Troubled lives
by IHeartMarvin
Summary: Rachel is a girl with a very troubled past. She's running away, trying to find somewhere safe. The question is...what's she running from and where has she ended up? what's this 'gift' she has? Set around about chapter 18 of eclipse. Full summary inside...
1. Lost

Rachel is a girl with a very troubled past. She's running away, trying to find somewhere safe. The question is...what's she running from and where has she ended up? Set around about chapter 18 of eclipse. Cross between Twilight and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; i know it's been done before, but this is just an idea i had that won't leave me alone. Entire story from Rachel's point of view.

Disclaimer: i don't own Twilight, that's a great series by Stephenie Meyer. i don't own any of the original Twilight crew either; i do however own Rachel and a couple of other characters that come in later on.

Please review to let me know what you think; good or bad.

**Troubled Lives**

**Lost**

Where was I? This place, it seemed so familiar and yet so foreign; like something from a faded dream or a long lost memory. The land itself was roughly the size of a football pitch, there were trees and other plants at certain points in what I assumed was a carefully organised design. The trees swaying in the fresh summer breeze and the flowers opened to their fullest; basking in the warm sunlight. Then there was the house, well more like a mansion really; it was a clean white colour and the light reflected wonderfully off the panes of glass in the windows. The entire property gave off an air of warm welcome.

Or at least that's what I imagined it would be like in the daylight. Right now, in the dead of night, the trees seemed to be holding whispered conversations while casting dark, ominous shadows over the property. There were no lights on in the building itself so it just sat as a dark shape; daring people to approach. Overall this property was plain creepy, just looking at it made shivers run up and down my spine. I was getting the distinct impression that the house wasn't uninhabited; it just wasn't inhabited by anything _human_.

"Why can't I ever end up anywhere nice and cheery?" I wondered aloud, before realizing my mistake.

I hadn't checked whether there was anyone inside the house yet; although I doubted it seeing as there were no lights on at al in the house, but still. Again the shivers did a lap of my spine; making me contemplate running as far away from here as possible.

I squashed my fears before they had a chance to overrun me. I wouldn't get anywhere by running; I mean I didn't even know where I was; plus, there was no room for fear in my life, it just wasn't an option. I couldn't afford to be afraid in my line of work. Once I felt that I was in control, I walked nervously up to the front door; all the while on edge, prepared for something to jump out at me. I knocked half-heartedly on the door, not really expecting anyone to answer; the house was just too silent. Just as I expected, the noise echoed through the silent air around me, but no-one came to answer the door. I was suddenly burning with curiosity, what harm could come from just looking around?

With that thought I slowly opened the door; it swung open silently and I hesitated for a moment before confidently stepping over the threshold. Once inside, my fingers fumbled along the wall looking for a light switch; I found it and there was a click before light was shining down on everything from a massive chandelier hanging above the stair case. The house was open and inviting, all the furniture was modern and expensive and the decorating was extravagant. I turned and noticed that there was a beautiful grand piano sitting near the entrance; I could just imagine soothing melodies floating throughout the house. Everything was so lovely that I began to forget my earlier fears. However when I entered the dining room, the furniture looked unused and it was then that I noticed that the whole house smelled sweet, sickly almost; not enough that normal people would notice anything amiss, but seeing as I was looking for anything odd I picked up on it. I didn't bother going upstairs because I felt I had already intruded enough into these people's _lives_; meaning I had enough evidence to support my earlier suspicions, so instead I slipped stealthily back out the way I came in.

Once I was safely back outside I considered everything I had learned so far. Not much was the conclusion I came to; I was still hopelessly lost and my snooping hadn't provided me with any information, except that I was now positive that a coven of vampires owned the house. I had hoped that by entering the property I would have proved that I hadn't been here before, but the feeling of recognition was stronger than ever.

"Where the hell am I?" I whispered to myself; before an idea struck me. It was so obvious I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before!

After a careful examination of the land surrounding the enormous house I discovered that there was a dense wood behind the house and a driveway of sorts leading away from the front of the house. I also discovered that there were no security cameras of any kind to be found around the property; therefore no-one would witness what I was going to do next…

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So, what do you think? let me know.

Sorry this chapters so short, i'm still trying to get the first bit right, i promise to make the next chapters longer. it just means you'll be waiting a while.


	2. First Encounters

Disclaimer: I don't own twilight but i do own Rachel.

**First Encounters**

After taking one last glance; just to make sure that there was definitely no-one near enough to see what I was going to do next, I closed my eyes and concentrated.

I willed myself to hear things far off into the distance and to be able to see things that were miles ahead of me. I loved using my _gift_; the feeling of freedom I experienced every time I did, was amazing. I had to focus on the energy I carried inside me and manipulate it to suit my needs. At that moment I needed it to enhance my sight and my hearing so I manipulated it to perfect my eyes and ears. I felt the familiar tingling sensations shoot through my head as the necessary adjustments were being made. This was the part I didn't enjoy; I hated the uncomfortable feeling I got as the energy travelled through me, but it was a small price to pay.

When I reopened my eyes I saw the world differently; I could see everything more vividly and I could zoom in on individual ants in the grass a few feet away. The most amazing change though was the change in the things I could hear; I could hear everything.

My appearance was altered as well; if people were to look at me then, they would have seen a girl of average height and build, looking to be about 15, with long, brown hair; standing in the middle of some rich person's garden wearing long flare jeans and a long sleeved, tight fitting, navy shirt. When all seemed normal they would have proceeded to look more closely at my feature; that's when they would have noticed my piercing yellow eyes that seemed to look straight through them. They may also have noticed that my ears were elongated and pointy like those of an elf.

No-one came however, so no-one saw any of that.

After testing my sight for a couple of minutes by focusing on certain points in the distance, I decided to fix my hearing so that I didn't have a constant background buzz of noise. This was the challenging part…

I had to cut the noises down until I was only picking up the sound of voices. I forced myself to ignore anything but the sound of people talking to each other. I could relax and take in the sounds of the Earth at another time; right at that moment I needed to work out where I was.

I cut the sounds down until I was only listening for the echo of voices and there was suddenly an eerie silence on all sides.

'Strange,' I thought to myself, 'this must mean that the house is miles away from any town, which doesn't make sense because the lovely _homeowners_ must have somewhere to go to eat.'

It was after this thought that I realised I could in fact hear someone; I just hadn't picked up on it because it was a solitary voice and I had been expecting to hear the roar of over 30 voices trying to get through to me at once. I tried to pinpoint the exact location of the voice; (I mean one person was better that none) and realised that it was coming from the rear of the house.

'Guess that driveway they have doesn't go anywhere after all.'

I was still contemplating that, when I realised that the voice was coming to me from the _other side _of the dense sea of trees at the back of the property!

"Well that's just great!" I hissed under my breath.

I now had to go on a little orienteering expedition through the woods. Well I wanted to get out of here and this seemed to be the only way, so I decided I had better get started. I stepped towards the thinner trees on the outskirts of the woods and swallowed; trying to get rid of the lump of fear that was securely lodged in my throat.

In the time it took me to hesitate; the clouds that, up until that moment had been shrouding the moon, cleared and bright moonlight filtered down, turning everything a creepy luminescent colour. The light played with my perception, giving the trees sneering faces and snaking roots; the forest was alive. At the same time, a wolf howled in the distance, chilling me right down to my bones. Then the clouds rolled in again and the moment had passed; I was once again facing a dark and dank, but regular wood. Unfortunately I was shaken and even less sure of myself than before, but I had to find the owner of the voice if I was ever going to get out of here.

I summoned all of my remaining courage and took my first step into the woods, bringing myself one step closer to the stranger whose voice I was following and one step further away from the comfort of some kind of shelter.

'Get a grip! You can't afford to think like this, you need to find out where you are and then get as far away from anything non-human as possible.' My mind scolded me.

I crept apprehensively through the darkness; edging from tree to tree, while at the same time casting nervous glances around. I had the distinct impression that someone was following me but it was probably just my imagination running wild after all the scares I'd had that night. All the while I was moving I was focusing on the voice, making sure that I was going in the right direction; the last thing I wanted was to get lost in the middle of this place.

An owl hooted in a near by tree and I nearly had a heart attack, I jumped back and tripped over a tangle of tree roots; landing on backside before realising what it was. I felt so embarrassed that my face must have been an interesting shade of red. After picking myself back up off the floor, I starting moving again; cursing the stupid bird under my breath.

The voice got clearer as I progressed further into the woods and I worked out that it belonged to a male of maybe 20; he seemed to be giving instructions to someone but I couldn't tell who that was, because they were totally silent. It was the instructions that unnerved me; I was almost positive that he was giving a lesson on how to fight; the last thing I wanted, other than being lost was to end up in a fight with what sounded like an experienced fighter.

After the owner of the voice had completed his explanation there was a sudden silence and I panicked because I had lost my means of guidance. I had no reason to panic though because moments after the voice stopped I heard a deafening roar; like that of two boulders colliding and I could easily tell what direction I needed to be heading in. I heard the voice again then.

"Ok good now try it again but this time think about what you're doing, instead of acting on instinct."

I started to wonder whether these words and the noise I had heard just a couple of minutes before had anything to do with perfecting fighting skills; but then my mind interrupted my thought process.

'Who in their right mind would be out in the middle of nowhere, practicing their fighting skills at this time in the morning? Unless…'

I pushed that thought aside, there was no way that these people could be the vampires that inhabited the house; they were far away, in some town, entertaining themselves; right?

Before I had time to ponder that properly, the trees started thinning up ahead and I felt extremely relieved to be out of the suffocating darkness I had become accustomed to while travelling through the woods. As I approached the edge of the dank, dangerous expanse I could tell from the sound of the man's voice that he still had no idea that I was there, so I decided to watch the events. I snuck closer and peeked out from behind some thick bushes; using my enhanced eyesight to see what was going on.

I was looking out on a clearing the size of two, maybe three baseball pitches; the moon was out from behind the clouds again and as it illuminated the ground I noticed everything else…

I realised that I had fatally misjudged the amount of people I would be meeting; if _people _was the right word. In total there were 8 vampires and 10 werewolves gathered together on either side of a very obvious and very invisible divide. But something wasn't right; other than the fact that technically neither of these should exist; everything I knew about vampires and werewolves told me that they were mortal (immortal) enemies. They should be ripping each other apart but instead the wolves seemed to be watching and _learning _from the vampires.

Now that I had taken all of this in, I thought it would be a good idea to look more closely at everyone here, because the nagging feeling of recognition I'd been experiencing since I had arrived was now so strong it was almost unbearable. First I focused on the one whose voice I had been following; he was tall and reasonably well muscled, he had quite long, blonde, fly-away hair and eyes the colour of topaz… wait, topaz? That couldn't be right. I double checked, and sure enough this stranger had topaz eyes. At the moment he was instructing another member of his family on the proper way to fight a new born. This other member was very tall and extremely well muscled; he had short, dark, curly hair and topaz eyes. That made two with topaz eyes.

'I wonder…'

I looked at the group together and sure enough, they all had the same, beautiful coloured eyes. All except one; she had deep brown eyes that seemed very observant. It seemed that in my earlier assessment I had jumped to conclusions; on that half of the _divide_ there were in fact 7 vampires and one human girl…

It was then that realisation hit me… I did know these people!

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That was my last chapter for a while because i did promise to make the chapters longer. Unfortunately that means i won't be updating as often.  
Hope you like it.

Don't forget to review and let me know what you think.  
Thanks  
xxx


	3. Recognition

Disclaimer: I don't own twilight or any of the characters in it. I do however own Rachel.

This isn't an extremely long chapter but I kinda like it.

**Recognition**

These were the _people_ from my dreams. I had been having the dreams for months now; each one carrying on from the last. They had been following the life of the brunette; ever since she had moved from Phoenix to live with her father in a little town called Forks.

I had watched her go through everything; all kinds of different emotions and watched as she formed a bond with a family of vampires. At first I had thought she was crazy; I above everyone else knew the dangers of being around vampires. But as I continued to dream I began to second guess my judgements and realised that the vampires really weren't all that bad; in fact they really did care about this girl.

Obviously at the time I had thought it was just my imagination reacting to all the things that had been happening in my life. But at that moment; looking out on the scene in front of me, I realised that I really had been dreaming about this girl, Bella's life.

After I had made the connection I also found that I could identify almost everyone in the clearing by name. The blonde man whose voice I had been following was Jasper, the tall muscular one was called Emmett. Jasper was married to Alice; the small, pixie-like one with short, spiky black hair and Emmett was married to Rosalie; you couldn't miss her, she was tall and curvy in all the right places with long blonde hair; she was easily just as beautiful as any model.

Carlisle and Esme were the parental figures in the family; Carlisle was tall, blonde 26 year old doctor. He had worked for hundreds of years to perfect his self-control. He was married to Esme; he had changed her after she had attempted to commit suicide. She had shoulder-length, wavy, caramel hair and a kind face.

Then there was Edward…he was less well built than his brothers but still had muscles. He had wild, bronze hair and was as handsome as Rosalie was beautiful. He had captured Bella's heart and she had returned the favour.

As I continued to observe them I noticed that I had witnessed Bella's life past this point so I knew exactly what Jasper was going to say next, and I knew what I was going to do when he said it…

"In a minute, I want to show Bella something first." He then waved Alice forward while addressing Bella. "I know you worry about her, I want to show you why that's not necessary."

That was my cue… I took a deep breath before stepping out into the clearing, revealing my position. I had never been so glad that my 'gift' kept me hidden unless I specifically wanted to reveal myself as I was at that moment. As I stepped out I couldn't resist saying;

"Oh so that's why you got yourself bitten trying to stop her having to do too much?" I said in the most sarcastic voice I could manage considering I was terrified.

After I said that, everyone span to look at me and the Cullens formed a protective circle around Bella. I couldn't understand why until I heard them muttering things about me; I realised that I shouldn't actually be able to hear them and that meant that I was still using my enhanced senses.

Just as I noticed this I heard Jasper mutter to Carlisle, "She smells like a human but her eyes aren't anywhere near a normal colour."

I noticed that I was making them very uneasy, which seemed quite laughable considering_ they're _vampires. I felt the need to put them at ease. So while my instincts were screaming at me; reminding me never to turn my back on danger I closed my eyes and focused on returning my features to normal, all the while kicking myself for not doing that earlier.

When I reopened my eyes for the second time that night, my eyes were their normal colour, brown and I felt really lost now that I could only sense things in the near vicinity. However I wasn't so blind that I didn't miss the fact that the Cullens visibly relax; no matter how I looked though I could tell they were suspicious.

I took a hesitant step forward and watched as Edward's top lip curled back to reveal his brilliantly white teeth. I stopped for a second to show that I had noticed his warning before taking another step towards the family. This time a low, menacing growl came from the back of his throat and I froze. I stayed where I was and decided that I needed to reconsider my tactics because one thing was certain, I wouldn't be moving any further forward.

Instead of attempting to take another step, I offered them a shy smile and raised my hands to prove I didn't mean any harm.

"Hi. Sorry I didn't mean to make you uneasy; I just wanted you to know I was here and I couldn't resist making an entrance with a sarcastic comment at Jasper's expense."

"How do you know my name?" Jasper asked me; confusion clearly written all over his face.

I couldn't help but laugh at his expression, but this was obviously the wrong thing to do because they were all glowering at me again.

I decided I needed to try and explain myself so through my laughter I managed to gasp out, "I'm sorry…it's just…I'm not used to the Cullens…being surprised."

Bella began to laugh then and I was glad someone else was able to see the funny side of everything. But again they picked up on the fact that I knew more about them than I probably should and Carlisle decided that we should all have a round of Q & A.

"Ok firstly, how do you know Jasper and second, what do you mean by you're not used to seeing us surprised?" he asked me and I could tell that he would wait all day for the answers.

I sighed and said, "Well I know who Jasper is the same way I know that you're Carlisle and that standing to your right is your wife Esme. I also know that Jasper is married to Alice and Emmet is married to Rosalie. Finally I know that Edward and Bella are together."

I paused to let that information sink in before continuing… "I can't really explain what I meant by my other statement; all I can tell you is that I know about nearly everything that's happened in Bella's life since she's moved to Forks and also what's going to happen right up until the end of this battle."

I glanced at the faces of all the Cullens and nearly burst out laughing again at the incredulous looks they were giving me. Instead I settled for looking as innocent as possible.

Finally Emmett found his voice enough to ask, "What the hell are you?"

"Now that's a good question."

And it was; it was a very good question indeed.

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Hiya guys,

I don't want to be one of those people that begs for reviews but i really want to know what you think of this story. It's my first fanfic and i need to know whether it's any good. I didn't get any reviews for my last chapter so please make it up to me with ones for this chapter.

I'll update ASAIC.

bye  
xxxxxxxxxxxx


	4. Showing Off

Hi guys next chapter's up!  
Remember...review and let me know what you think.

**Disclaimer:I don't own twilight but I do own Rachel.**

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**Showing Off**

"Unfortunately I'm not prepared to give you that piece of information just yet. I will however tell you that I am human…I just happen to have a 'gift'."

I made sure to punctuate the word gift with air quotations to emphasize my point.

"Oh, and what exactly does your 'gift' allow you to do?" Carlisle was trying very hard not to push me for answers but I could see the curiosity burning in his eyes.

"I can do lots of different things," I realised then that I was going to have to divulge some information at least, "what you just witnessed was the return of my normal appearance after I used my gift to enhance my senses. I don't know why but it always alters the way I look."

"Thank you for explaining that to us, it's nice to be able to understand it a bit better."

"My pleasure." I was glad that the Cullens had decided to be understanding; it was a nice change from that animosity they had been showing only a little earlier.

I picked up on a frustrated sigh that had come from Edward; as I turned my attention to his face I couldn't help but laugh at him. His face was turned down in a frown and he was glaring at me.

"Awww, don't feel bad Edward; no-one knows what's going on in my head but me."

I felt bad for teasing him but I couldn't resist; I knew how frustrated he got when he couldn't read someone's thoughts. If possible, his frown deepened after I said that and I had to fight really hard to keep from laughing at him again. Emmet had turned to him by this point and after giving Edward a minute to calm down a little bit, dared to ask the question I was sure they all wanted answered.

"You can't read her mind?" His expression was incredulous and it was then that I realised how much the Cullens depended on Edward's talent.

"No Emmet I can't. What I'd like to know is how she knows I can read minds and how she's blocking me."

As he said this he gave me a pointed look and I knew that I had no choice but to answer if I wanted to be accepted by them. The way I saw it I needed them to accept me so that I could get out of here, so after taking a deep breath I began my explanation.

"I also know about all _your _gifts and so when you sighed I knew what you were trying to do. I also knew it wasn't going to work because my gift shields my mind."

Carlisle had been paying very close attention to everything I said and when I finished he took up the role of spokesperson for the family again.

"It seems to me that your gift is very powerful. I wonder…what else can you do?"

His tone was politely interested; he wasn't forcing me to reveal anything I didn't want to. It was this that made me reply differently than I would normally; instead of refusing I suggested a compromise of sorts.

"For now I will show you one other thing I can do; one thing only. Then you allow me a little more of your trust and let me tell you all about myself in my own time. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, that seems more than fair." I was really starting to like Carlisle, he seemed to understand that I was giving away more than I'd like to.

Edward on the other hand was still grumbling under his breath and was beginning to get on my nerves. He was just so damn irritating. After sending a glare in his direction to show that his muttering hadn't escaped my notice, I stepped back so that what I was going to do wouldn't come across as a threat.

I concentrated on the energy inside me again and began to manipulate it so that when I was ready it could be used straight away; at the same time I closed my fists and raised them to waist height. This process could be quick, but in order to make sure it worked best I was taking my time; also I didn't want the Cullens to know just how quickly I could summon the energy; it would only cause me unnecessary problems.

I opened my eyes so that I could make eye contact with every single one of the Cullens, my gaze lingering on Carlisle to make sure I had his attention. Once I was sure I had their undivided attention I allowed the energy to rush along my arms and when it reached my palms, I opened my fists quickly to release the energy. Bright orange flames erupted from the palm of each hand; I allowed them to flicker there long enough for the Cullens to properly take in what had happened before half closing my fists and flashing them open again. Twin balls of fire shot a few feet into the darkened night sky, making Bella jump.

Seeing as I had made the decision to reveal this part of my gift only seconds before actually using it, even Alice was surprised. I was feeling very pleased with myself as I examined the matching looks of wonder and awe on the _vampires_ faces.

I turned to look for the first time at the wolves behind me; they all had similar looks on their faces. Or what I imagined was wonder anyway seeing as how they were still in wolf form; however most of them were also taking up defensive position as well I noticed. I had to act if I wanted to keep some kind of peace between me and the supernatural creatures that were gathered in the clearing.

"Hey guys chill. I'm not going to be actually throwing fire at anyone, I was just showing off."

My words didn't seem to be having any effect and the wolves were beginning to form a semi-circle in front of me. I started to panic; I was desperately trying to think up ways to reassure them. I decided to resort to cheating; the only problem was that this could backfire and only serve to make them more uneasy.

"Come on Jake you don't really want to do this; you can't honestly think that this isn't cool?" I asked the russet coloured wolf.

I was begging and I knew it; I couldn't believe I'd stooped so low already but it couldn't be helped.

"Sam, Jared, Quill… Do you honestly think I'm that dangerous?"

I was backing up now as well, doubtful that any of this would work but once I said their names they seemed to calm down again. I knew I'd have to explain later but for now they seemed to be reassured.

I wasn't sure what to make of that so I very slowly turned back to face the Cullens. I didn't want to turn my back on the wolves but I had to trust them if I wanted them to do the same for me.

If the Cullens had been shocked before they were now completely speechless!

"Oh sorry, I forgot to mention that I know the wolves by…" I trailed off in embarrassment and trained my eyes on the floor in front of me; taking in as much detail as I could from the blades of grass between my feet.

When the silence had dragged on for a couple of minutes I started to fidget nervously; stepping lightly from one foot to the other. When there was still no response I raised my head, only to make eye contact with Emmet. Once he realised that I had noticed the curious glances he kept throwing my way, he closed the distance between us in six massive strides and picked me up in a rib crushing hug.

I was so shocked that I yelped and very nearly tried to hit him out of reflex. He laughed and put me back on my feet; then playfully ruffled my hair before returning to his place next to Rosalie.

"Umm…Emmett what…what was that for?" I stammered; I was so surprised by the sudden show of brotherly affection.

"I like you; you're cool." Simple as I guess.

"Umm thanks."

"Well for the record, I don't like you!" Rosalie told me, venom dripping from every word.

"I think you're just jealous to be honest. I mean I was the one that got the hug." I retorted before I could catch myself.

'Oh boy now I'm dead.'

Rosalie hissed at me before saying in a dead calm voice, "what was that?"

I decided that now the damage was done I might as well hold my ground. I once again turned to sarcasm as my defence; it had always helped somewhat in the past and so I was hoping it would once again come to my aid.

"You mean you didn't hear me? And I thought that vampires were supposed to have brilliant hearing." I retorted.

That was it; Rosalie crouched, preparing to pounce, and growled at me; a rumbling growl from deep within her chest. I realised I'd gone too far, but I wasn't about to apologize so I held my ground. As Rosalie started to move my way, Carlisle put a hand out to stop her and though she snarled at me she straightened back up and stayed where she was.

I smirked at her until I noticed the disappointed look that Carlisle was giving me. Once I realised that I had acted childishly I hung my head and waited for Carlisle to reprimand me. To my surprise it never came and I thought I'd better apologize to Rosalie as a way to make it up to the family.

"Rosalie I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." I told her honestly.

She sneered at me, but that was the only acknowledgement I got. I sighed before addressing Carlisle again.

"Is there anything else you'd like to know? After my poor behaviour I feel you deserve some more answers." I said as a way to try and make it up to them.

"I have one… how old are you?" Alice asked me; the lively attitude I was used to seeing in my dreams, gone.

"I'm fifteen but I don't feel much like a fifteen year old girl anymore." I replied.

"Why not?" This time it was Esme that wanted a question answered.

"Well… even if I'd walked into this clearing and seen you without having dreamt about all of you for the last few months I would have known what you are… Let's just say, this isn't the first encounter I've had with vampires." I told the truth again; I was fed up with lying to everyone around me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Edward asked in a frustrated voice.

"I guess it's time I told you guys everything. But just to warn you; my story isn't exactly a pleasant one!"

'Here we go…'

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Another cliffie!!

Sorry to all those who were waiting for Rachel to reveal her secrets, she just wasn't ready yet.  
I'm evil I know! But I promise to let everyone in on her life in the next few chapters.


	5. Memories

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of Stephenie Meyer's character, I also don't own Spike or Angelus but I do own Rachel and her family.

Sorry I haven't updated in ages, I've had exams for the last 3 weeks and it's been hectic. I hope this really long chapter helps make it up to you guys.

Thanks to everyone for the reviews, keep them coming it keeps me going when I don't think my story's going very well Lol.

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**Memories**

"I don't think anyone here actually has a pleasant story, so just get on with it already." Rosalie laughed cruelly.

"Rosalie!" Carlisle warned whilst shooting her an angry look.

"No it's okay, I deserved that and plus she's telling the truth." I assured him. "Okay… well I've always been different, it's just the way I am; but last year it got even worse. I was on my way home from school and I was walking because I'd missed the bus; as I turned the corner onto my street an old man in a business suit stopped me. He was balding and he was wearing glasses but he gave off a kind of confident air though; he introduced himself as Mr John Walters from the watchers council. Once he said those words I knew exactly why he was there I mean I have to be one of the biggest fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the world; please tell me you've heard of it?" I almost pleaded.

"Is that the programme where Sarah Michelle Gellar is the main character and she kicks arse?" It had to be Emmett that answered didn't it? I nodded slowly and his excitement kicked in, "Of course I've heard of it, I've even watched a few episodes; I mean Buffy is sooo hot!" he exclaimed.

I knew exactly what was going to happen next before it did; Rosalie's hand shot out like lightening and there was a resounding crack as her hand came into contact with the back of Emmett's head. Everyone laughed when Emmett had the nerve to turn around and ask what exactly it was he'd done, earning him another slap.

"So let me get this straight, you're telling us that you're a vampire slayer?" Edward asked sarcastically.

"Yes Edward that's exactly what I'm telling you but don't worry I didn't believe it at first either." I told him. "Now do you want to hear the story or not?"

He nodded but I didn't miss the fact that he also rolled his eyes in my general direction.

"So this Mr Walters told me that the slayer had been killed and that I had been 'chosen'. I refused to believe him, even though I had been exhibiting all the characteristics of… shall we say 'slayer hood'. I mean who can blame me? My whole life I've been told that vampires, werewolves, witches, and all the rest are just myths used in films, and how was I supposed to know that Buffy the Vampire Slayer was based on actual history in parts? So I told him to leave me alone and then I pushed past him and ran the rest of the way to my house." I told them; my mind in another time.

"He was persistent though and after two or three days of constant nagging and long winded speeches I agreed to let him train me as the next vampire slayer." I paused to order my thoughts, and Edward immediately jumped in with a question.

"You wouldn't stand a chance against the vampires that _really_ exist." He said in a mocking tone.

"Oh, you think so? Tell you what then, why don't you come over here for a minute and I'll show you just how much of a chance I actually have." I replied with a smirk.

Edward took an intimidating step in my direction before Bella put a hand on his arm to stop him. "Edward, wait don't do this, she's just a child."

'Just a child? I'll show her; I know she means well but I've been through just as much if not more than her so she has no right to call me a child!' I was absolutely fuming and Jasper must have picked up on it because his head suddenly jerked in my direction and before I could even think about trying to stop him, he voiced his observation.

"Jeez you're giving off major waves of irritation and anger all of a sudden, where did that come from?"

"Sorry, I just don't like being referred to as a child. I know that technically I am, but I don't feel anything like a child anymore. No offence Bella but I need you to let Edward come over here because I have a point to prove, if that's alright with you." I questioned although I knew that no matter what Bella said he'd be coming over, "I promise not to hurt him." I added with a wink to reassure her.

"Okay sure, but you also have to promise not to cheat okay?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," I told her honestly.

As soon as I said this she let go of Edward's arm and it was obvious that she was just as curious as everyone else was, about the extent of my abilities. Again Edward stepped forward and this time he let out a low growl as well. In response I dropped into a defensive crouch and smiled innocently at him, while I waited for him to make his first move. He circled me and although I watched his movements closely I didn't change my stance; I knew that once I moved he would attack and that by standing I would have left myself open. He came to stand in front of me again and in a movement to fast for the average human to see, his right arm flashed out towards the left hand side of my face.

It never connected though because I sidestepped the blow and retaliated with a punch to the face of my own while he was still in shock… The force of the blow knocked him off his feet and he laded on his back a few yards away. Unfortunately, even though I'd never admit it, that punch was one of the hardest I'd ever thrown and it still had very little effect on him; but it was enough to get by. After getting over the initial shock of what had happened, Emmett and Jasper burst out laughing and even though the rest of the family were more considerate and managed to keep quiet, their eyes were also shining with amusement.

As I stood there with my arms folded across my chest I couldn't resist rubbing it in just a little, "What's the matter Edward, you weren't expecting it to be easy now were you?" I asked; my amusement showing both in my smile and the tone of my voice.

As he got to his feet he growled at me, but otherwise made no comment; I could tell that he was embarrassed he'd been beaten by a 15 year old girl, but he's had it coming so I wasn't feeling too guilty.

"Do you believe me now?" I questioned; looking him straight in the eye to show that I didn't like being made fun of.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice, seeing as you beat me do I?" He asked dejectedly.

"Of course you have a choice." I answered him firmly, "you always have a choice." I whispered at the end; more to myself than them; though of course they heard me.

"What do you mean you always have a choice? Oh, and for the record I believe you." Alice said, and I couldn't help but smile at her.

"Thanks and what I meant will become clear when you've heard the rest of the story." I answered her truthfully; I waited until she nodded before continuing with my tale.

"My training began, and over the course of the next 3 weeks I learnt how to defend myself and how to use just about every weapon going; I felt like the world's deadliest 14 year old." I laughed dryly to myself, "I threw myself into my training because for once I had something that I could do, other than other people's homework." At that I heard a collective gasp as I said this, but ignored it and carried on, "I still remember the first night Mr Walters took me out to the cemetery; it turns out the other kind of vampires do exist, they're just very rare because they're so easy to kill. I mean come on, a pointy piece of wood through the heart and they're dust; literally."

"Wait, what do you mean 'a pointy piece of wood to the heart and they're dust'? I thought vampires can only be killed by ripping them apart and burning them." A new voice commented from behind me, making me jump. I heard laughing and turned to see that the whole pack had changed back while I'd been talking, and that it was in fact Sam who had questioned me.

"The Cullens aren't the only kind of vampire in the world. All the vampires you've met have been like them and the only way to kill them is the way you know. But there are other vampires in the world; for these, most of the myths are true; well except for the sleeping in coffins one anyway. Holy water and crosses burn their skin and sunlight kills them; stake them through the heart and they turn into a pile of dust and garlic also affects them; they're pretty useless really." I joked although no one found this funny.

"Typical, we could have had the easy to kill leeches and instead we get stuck with granite soldiers." Jake grumbled.

I turned to look at him, resisting the urge to laugh and said, "Yes you could have, but where would be the fun in that?"

He brightened at that and seemed to agree with me; I'm positive I heard Bells mumble something about encouraging them under her breath just then, but I'm not sure.

"What about special powers, they must have some kind of defence?" Carlisle asked me.

"Well I know of one that can see the future, but as far as I know she's an exception." I replied.

"That night when we went out I was attacked by a pair of males, one had dark hair and was about six foot tall while the other had peroxide blonde hair and was quite a bit shorter. I recognised them almost immediately as Spike and Angelus from Buffy, and I knew that I was in trouble because they were both experienced fighters and Spike had already previously murdered 2 slayers. I fought as best I could but Angelus threw me into one of the gravestones, and even though it crumbled under me I was knocked unconscious."

I was breathing hard now as I remember the pure terror I'd felt that night and I felt a wave of calm wash over me. I turned gratefully to Jasper and thanked him before continuing with my life's story.

"When I came to I was still in the cemetery but it was daylight now so I knew I was safe for the time being. Once I'd determined that, I looked around and saw that my watcher's body was lying at my feet; his neck snapped and all the blood drained from his body. I'll never forget the look on his face; his features were twisted with terror and pain and his eyes were wide and empty." As I finished reliving the events of that night I felt a single tear trickle down my cheek. I wiped it away roughly; reminding myself that there was worse to come.

Bella had no such luck though and the tears were streaming thick and fast down her face. I felt the need to comfort her so I walked slowly over to her, all the while keeping my movements slow and my arms raised to show Edward that I wasn't going to try anything. To begin with he growled at me and continued trying to get Bella to calm down and breath. When I continued to move forward he snarled at me until Carlisle sent him a look that would have had me trembling had it been directed at me. Edward reluctantly backed off and I smiled timidly at him as a way of thanks.

I walked over to Bella and gave her a hug; whispering soothing words to her. She raised her head slowly when she realised it was me, and then the apologies came spewing out.

"Oh my god Rachel I'm so sorry. That's awful, you shouldn't have had to witness anything like that I ca-"

"Bella calm down okay, none of this is your fault and you can't change the past anyway," I interrupted her, "I agree it's awful but you've seen worse and you've also endured so much."

"But I'm 18 and you were only 14, no one that young should be forced to witness those kinds of things." She argued stubbornly.

'Good old Bella' I thought to myself.

"Okay I agree but what's done is done, and I have to warn you that there's worse to come and if you don't want to hear it I'll understand." I told her; half wishing she'd take me up on my offer but also knowing that she wouldn't.

"Worse? Well thanks for the warning but if you're forced to relive all these horrible things then I'm going to listen." She said adamantly.

I nodded once to show I agreed before turning to Edward and shrugging in an 'oh well I tried' kind of way. He moved back to stand comfortingly at Bella's side, while I moved back to my original place.

I took a deep breath before continuing, "I buried him there in that cemetery and I have never been back there since." I told them in order to wrap up that part of my story, "by the time I'd finished there, it was close to lunch time so I started on my way home; already trying to come up with a believable reason as to why I didn't make it home the night before. I decided that my safest bet would be to say that I'd stayed at a friend's house and that we'd camped out in the back garden because this explained my absence and the dirt which covered my clothes."

My hands started trembling as I prepared to reveal everything to these people I'd only just met. I'd never told anyone about this and I never would again; I was scared to relive the next part again but knew I'd have to. I was shaking so badly now that Jasper had to once again send me a strong wave of calm; I smiled gratefully at him but otherwise didn't do anything.

Once I'd regained control of my body, I continued on with the tale.

"As I got to the house I realised something was wrong; the front door was open but there were no sounds coming from inside, it was deathly quiet. I panicked and ran into the house; everything was destroyed and my family was nowhere to be seen. Just as I was beginning to realise what had happened, the phone rang and I rushed to answer it, already knowing who it would be. I answered the phone and Angelus' voice carried to me, he told me that it was lovely to be talking to me again but that he had some bad news for me-"my voice broke and my body was wracked with silent sobs, while the tears poured down my face.

"Oh no, Rachel did they pull the same trick on you that James used on me?" Bella asked quietly, the horror evident in her voice.

I was crying so hard that I was unable to find my voice but I eventually managed to shake my head and whisper, "no, not the same. It wasn't a trick, they'd taken my grandparents, my parents, my brother and my sister." Then I broke down again.

Horrified gasps came from all around and then Carlisle tentatively asked what happened next. I couldn't find my voice at all so I decided it was time to put my ability to good use. I called on the energy and it flowed through me strongly. I used it to allow me to invade the thoughts of everyone in the clearing, including Bella, and I projected my voice into their minds.

'I can't tell you any more, but I can show you if you want.'

They collectively nodded so I projected my memories into their minds; reliving it more intensely myself as a result.

**Flashback**

"_Right now Rachel I need you to be a good girl and get here in the next 20 minutes or I'm afraid your sister might have a little accident and fall and break her neck, understand?" the voice asked a younger me._

_The younger me nodded before realising that he couldn't see her, "yes…I understand just…just tell me where you are…and I'll…I'll come." She pleaded; her voice trembling_

"_There's a good girl, we're at the warehouse on King's Road; do you know it?" he asked, the excitement clear in his voice._

"_Yes, me and my friends used to hang out there I can be there in 15 minutes." The younger me responded her voice stronger now that her bravery had returned._

"_Great I'll see you then." The line went silent and the younger me replaced the receiver with shaking hands before setting her face in a determined mask and turning towards the door._

The memory ended and another one followed it immediately.

_The same girl was standing in an old warehouse; the roof was made of corrugated steel and the doors were all made of thick, heavy wood. In front of her stood the two vampires, their eyes yellow and their faces transformed, showing their true selves; they held a menacing stance, showing that she was not to try anything, or else... Behind them, the girl's family cowered in fear; when they saw her they sagged in relief before their faces transformed to one of pure terror as they realised she wouldn't be able to save them. _

_Her grandmother had long white hair and her face was tanned, and creased with laugh lines, she was wearing her apron which showed she had been cooking when the intruders arrived. Her husband had very short gray hair and a kind face; he was wearing his favourite pair of jeans and a shirt. Their daughter was cowering behind her husband, she had long dark brown hair, exactly the same as her daughter and her face was the same oval shape. She was still wearing her work clothes, and had obviously only just returned home from work before being snatched. The husband was balding but what was left of his hair was very dark, almost black. His face was round and his eyes were small; the girl looked much more like her mother than her father._

_The two children, both younger than the girl were crying silently, trying not to make any noise that would draw attention to them. the daughter also had brown hair like her mother and older sister but she had her father's face. The son had light hair but dark eyes; he also resembled his father and the younger of his two sisters. The girl looked away, unable to meet their gazes knowing what she was about to do would hurt them greatly._

"_Glad you could make it Rachel, the show wouldn't have been as good if you hadn't shown up to watch it." Spike told the girl, his voice menacing._

"_Show, what show?" she replied in a confused voice before realisation crossed her features," What…no, I thought…I thought you wanted to trade, my…my life for theirs." She said in a weak shaky voice._

"_Awww look Spike she's pleading, isn't that sweet?" Angelus asked in a sarcastic voice._

"_You sadistic bastards, why can't you just let them go?" she yelled at them in a panicky voice._

"_Well we could, but where would be the fun in that?" Angelus asked in an amused tone._

Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard Jake gasp when he realised that those were the exact words I had said to him earlier; but then I was dragged back into the memory.

_The girl screamed in anger before lunging herself at the dark haired vampire; realising her mistake too late. She had broken the fundamental rule in fighting; never attack from anger, it makes you vulnerable. He caught her by the throat and dangled her in the air like a rag doll; watching with amused eyes as she gasped for breath._

_Just as she was about to pass out he dropped her to the floor, where she crumpled in a heap, sucking air into her lungs as quickly as she could. He watched her curiously for a few minutes before clicking his fingers; this action caused two new vampires to appear out of the shadows in the corner of the warehouse, they came to his side awaiting their orders._

_Angelus turned away from the girl to look at his minions before nodding his head in her direction and saying to them "restrain her, I have a feeling she isn't going to like this next bit very much." _

_He then turned and walked over to grab the girl's grandmother from her place, cowering on the floor. Once the girl noticed this she tried to stand and stop him, but two pairs of hands stopped her taking any steps and forced her to her knees, facing the 'action'. _

_She struggled furiously against them but she couldn't get free, all she could do was watch helplessly as Angelus grinned evilly at her before grabbing her grandmother's head between his hands and twisting it quickly round; effectively snapping her neck and putting an end to her life. The girl cried out and once again tried to get to her feet but no matter how hard she tried, it was useless. The rest of the family whimpered when the body hit the floor but otherwise made no sounds._

_Spike stepped up to the family now and grabbed the girl's grandfather from the floor. He teasingly blew the girl a kiss before also twisting the old man's neck until it snapped. He tossed the dead body to the ground like a piece of trash before stepping up to the girl and lovingly stroking her face._

"_Now isn't this fun?" he asked while wiping the tears from the girl's cheeks. _

_She didn't answer him; instead she ripped her head from his grasp and tried once again to free herself from her captors so she could rescue her family. He just laughed at her and walked away to stand by Angelus._

_Once the girl's struggles had stopped, Angelus walked over to her mother and picked her up off the floor. He stoked her face in the exact same way Spike had with the girl, before also snapping her neck._

_The girl had tears streaming down her face now and she turned to Angelus before begging him to let her family go._

"_Please, stop this…it's me you…you want so just let…let them go. Please don't…don't do this." She whispered._

"_I'm sorry but I'm just having way to much fun to stop and besides if we just killed you now and let them go you'd be getting the easy way out because you wouldn't have to suffer through watching them die. This way they die and you suffer; isn't it brilliant?" he asked her in a cheerful voice._

_Next Spike moved on to dispose of her father and he did so in exactly the same way as he had previously. After the father's body was placed on the bottom of the pile the two vampires turned to her and Spike said, "Now the real fun begins."_

_The girl screamed and begged and pleaded with them not to hurt her brother and sister. She fought futilely against the hands that held her but nothing worked; the vampires held her 11 year old brother between them while he whimpered. The girl was forced to watch as both vampires lowered their heads to the child's neck; holding his arms behind his back, and sunk their teeth into his throat._

"_NO!" _

_The vampires ignored the girl's cries and continued with their meal. Once the body was drained dry they threw it on top of the pile and wiped the left over blood from around their mouths._

I was aware of my legs giving way beneath me and my body shaking with the pain and grief caused by my loss for only a moment before the memory dragged me under again.

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Sorry guys I really didn't want to end it here but I had to end it some time.

I'll update a.s.a.i.c though ok.  
Thanks

Rachel  
xx


	6. A Place To Stay

AN: Hey guys, sorry this took so long to post. My internet crashed and then last week I was in Italy on holiday. But anyway it's finally up and I'll try to have the next chap up by the end of the week.

Special thanks to **Sofabedtry** for her continued support and reviews. This chapter is for you so please keep the reviews coming lol

Sorry this chapter is so short but like I said, I'll try to update really soon and I felt it needed to be stopped where it is; hopefully you'll see why.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to twilight and I don't own Spike and Angelus, but I do own Rachel.

Anyway, that's enough rambling from me, enjoy and please review.

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**A Place To Stay**

"_Mmmm…delicious; don't you think Spike?" Angelus asked in a content voice._

"_Yes definitely very sweet and satisfying, but I think the girl will be much tastier."_

"NO!!"

The shout that came this time was much firmer and it didn't have the same dream like sound to it; I realised that it had come from my own mouth and that gave me the strength to pull myself completely out of the memories. Once I was fully aware again, I checked to see what kind of state everyone else was in; considering that I was on my knees with tears streaming down my face and sobs wracking my body.

As I looked around, I saw that Bella was in a similar condition, although her tears were fewer than mine, and Alice and Esme both looked as though they'd be crying if they could. Rosalie was trying to keep her face blank but I could tell from her eyes that she wasn't expecting the story I had just told; her eyes showed a mixture of pain, guilt and what I could only interpret as some kind of understanding, if such a thing was to be had in this situation. I could see that Jasper was struggling with everyone's emotions and that made me feel even guiltier; both Edward and Emmett looked as though they wanted to comfort their girlfriends but didn't quite know how. Carlisle looked furious and I have to admit that it scared me, seeing him like that after months of dreaming about him as a kind and compassionate individual. When I turned to see the wolves' reactions I was amazed to see that for once they were one hundred percent serious and that most of the pack members were shaking with barely contained anger.

Once Bella noticed that I had raised my head she came running to my side and embraced me in the kind of hug I thought only Emmett was capable of! I returned the hug, thankful for the comfort it brought me; comfort that had been absent in my life for so long. I whispered my thanks to her, and told her that everything was going to be okay, before rising shakily to my feet; bringing her with me. I walked her back to Edward and he gave me a sympathetic look before pulling Bella to him and whispering soothing words in her ear. Emmett was the first to snap out of his shock and he reacted in true Emmett style.

"What happened to them? I swear if they're still alive, I'll tear them apart!" he growled; the venom **(no pun intended)** in his voice was unmistakeable.

"They got away. I appreciate the sentiment and all Emmett, but you've only just met me, why are you willing to do so much for me?" I questioned him quietly; my voice barely above a whisper. I honestly had no idea why he would want to help me; I was a failure and I had lost everything because of it!

"Well it's like I said earlier; I like you, and I can already tell that you're likely to be my newest sister." He stated matter of factly; already beginning to reign in his temper.

Needless to say I was stunned into silence after that sentence. Just as I was getting the tears under control, my eyes burned and I once again had streams, more like rivers, running down the sides of my face. I wouldn't allow myself to get my hopes up though; I didn't belong here, they were happy and they didn't need me to spoil things. No matter how much I wanted a new family that loved me and wanted me the way my real family had; I refused to get in the way of the Cullens' lives. Trouble followed me wherever I went and this family and even the wolves didn't deserve this kind of trouble.

"Thanks Em, but you really don't need to do anything for me. I can take care of myself, thanks for caring though, it makes a nice change." I told him quietly.

'There that's a reasonable way to deflect the offer without bringing up an argument. Well done Rachel!' I congratulated myself mentally; glad that Edward was unable to read my thoughts.

"L…look, I can't believe I'm asking this, b…but what happened next?" Bella managed to choke, shakily, she took a deep steadying breath before continuing on, "I noticed that you stopped the memory, but it didn't seem like the end."

I drew in a deep breath to steady myself, knowing full well that at some point I was going to have to finish telling the Cullens and the pack the rest of my story but I didn't have the emotional or the mental strength I needed to finish the horror story at that point. Once I was confident enough that my voice wouldn't tremble I answered Bella.

"You're right, that isn't the end of the story, in fact there's quite a lot left to it; but I don't have the strength to continue now I'm sorry. I wish I did so that I wouldn't have to go through all this again, but I just had to relive the memory of my family being m…murdered and I'm now completely drained." I managed to get out with only one stutter. Then I added, in a pathetic attempt to lighten the mood slightly, "Besides, I don't think Jasper can take much more either."

Emmett managed a weak chuckle, and I was grateful that he was trying to help me out. Everyone else just nodded grimly and started to get up; all preparing to go home. But I felt guilty for upsetting everyone, so even though I was in a really bad condition and wanted nothing more than to grieve all over again, I felt the need to do my best to comfort everyone.

"Hold on, where's everyone going?" I demanded, and everyone froze; giving me looks, which all said 'I think you need to get your head looked at!'

I pointedly ignored the looks and carried on, "Just because I can't continue with that particular story, it doesn't mean you can't ask me about other things. Besides I feel a bit guilty now, seeing as how it's my fault that everyone is upset."

To which I'm pretty certain I heard Jasper mumble "A bit guilty? That's the understatement of the year." But I wasn't sure so I ignored the comment.

Then Carlisle, always the voice of reason said, "Thank you for the offer, and we may take you up on it at some point in the very near future but right now I think the pack, and Bella all need some rest; and by the looks of it so do you. Also you have no reason to feel guilty, we are honoured that you trust us enough to open up so fully to us. So we're all going to go home and we'll meet again for an actual training session later in the week if that's okay Sam?"

There was a mumbled reply of yes, before the pack members all took of running towards the woods, exploding into massive wolves before they were completely past the first row of trees. As the Cullens turned to leave, I suddenly realised that I had no idea where I was going to be staying that night. I mean I now knew that I was just outside of Forks but I had absolutely no idea where anything was, like say a travel inn.

I had no idea that I had been speaking out loud until Alice came dancing up to me; looking a lot more like herself. She came to a stop in front of me and managed to tell me through her giggles to stop being silly and that I was obviously going to be staying with them while I was in Forks. I tried to protest and form a reasonable argument but honestly I was just too tired to try; besides it was just plain stupid to argue with Alice!

I ended up being carried back to the house by someone, I think it was Emmett. I was awake but I was so lost in my memories of the past that I wasn't aware of what was going on around me; until I was placed gently on the couch anyway. I came back to reality quite quickly once I realised where I was, and I apologised profusely for being an inconvenience. Needless to say I got told to SHUT UP; Emmett's exact words. It was then that the Cullens noticed that my scent ran through the whole of the ground floor of their house and I told them, while hanging my head and wringing my hands that, "I might have been sneaking around in here before I came to the clearing."

Jasper could feel my embarrassment and was the first to laugh at me, but the rest of the family, including Bella, quickly followed suit. They told me that they didn't mind; it was just unusually for someone to actual have the courage to snoop through their house.

'Me brave? Ha, that's laughable!'

Now that I was more conscious, I realised I wouldn't be able to go to sleep just yet, because along with the emotional and physical drain, reliving the memories had made me uptight and on edge. I asked if anybody minded if I watched a film and no one did so I rummaged through their DVD collection until I found Pirates of the Caribbean; everyone laughed at my DVD choice but I was too tired to care.

Bella quickly fell asleep, and although I was exhausted, I was determined to watch the movie until the end. The Cullens found it extremely funny that I knew most of the lines and were laughing at me by the time the film ended. Yawning, I stood up to take the DVD out and turn off the television but I was stopped by none other than Rosalie.

"Don't worry about it, we can do that, and besides, we'll probably be watching the damn thing all night anyway. It's not like we have anything better to do."

"Thanks Rosalie, in that case I'll just curl up here for a quick nap." I mumbled before exhaustion took over and I was plunged into the dark oblivion of unconsciousness.

I didn't sleep well at all. I relived my failures through my dreams; saw the faces of every person that had died because of me and all the people that were hurt because of me. I tried in vain to wake up, but my body was so weak that it needed more time to recover and I was unable to escape from the hell that my mind had created for me. I was forced to watch my family members being murdered over and over, without being able to stop it or even fight it. When I finally managed to force my eyes open, my body was trembling and there were salty tracks down my face where tears had run at some point in the night. The Cullens were all regarding me with looks of pity and sadness; Jasper looked as though he was in pain and I realised that he had been trapped, just as I had been, forced to feel my emotions over and over again, just as I had been forced to witness the deaths.

"Rachel, we had no idea that you felt that way, if we had we would have helped you see the truth." Esme told me quietly, her voice ringing with sincerity and extreme sadness.

"There is nothing else to see, I can already see the truth. Though how you know how I feel, I don't know, because there is no way you could know how I feel. I guard my mind from everyone, even Edward." I answered her, feeling worried and confused.

"Your mind may be guarded from everyone, but you speak freely in your sleep." Carlisle answered.

"You mean I just outright admitted how I feel about my past?" I questioned.

As one they all nodded and I was began to panic now; they were not meant to know how I feel, they'd only want to talk about it and I didn't need that. I already knew that I should feel guilty and that the whole thing was my fault. I didn't need to be reminded by anyone. They couldn't help me, no one could! In fact, I was only putting every single one of them in danger by being here, Angelus and Spike were still out looking for me, a fact that I had kept from the Cullens. If Angelus and Spike found me here, everyone would be in trouble, the town, the Cullens, the pack, Bella and anyone else I met!

I needed a way out of here; that was for sure. The only thing to figure out now was how to escape the company of seven vampires? Especially considering one of said vampires can see what your decisions are.

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Okay that was it, so what do you think? Let me know.

Also any ideas on plans for an escape will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

IHeartMarvin xx


	7. Training?

AN: Hey guys sorry for the massive delay in uploading chapters but i was away all summer and then when school started back up it was mayhem...Anyway, here it is, finally. Thanks for all the reviews, and enjoy the chap lol.

Disclaimer: All twilight characters belong to stephenie meyer, but rachel and her family are completely original.

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**Training?**

When I woke up for the second time, I was confused and completely disorientated

When I woke up for the second time, I was confused and completely disorientated. I blinked furiously against the glaring sunlight, and tried to remember exactly what had happened, and where I was. When I couldn't recall anything immediately, I decided to take a look at my surroundings to see if that would trigger my memory.

I sat up and glanced around. I was sitting on a very comfortable, cream couch; the daylight that had been blinding me just moments before was coming in through one side of the room, which was entirely made of glass. The room itself had a massive plasma screen TV and expensive furniture. I couldn't hear any signs of life (no pun intended), anywhere in the house but there was a sickly sweet undertone to the air, and once it registered in my head what that scent was, the memories hit me like a moving truck! Coming here, snooping around, following the voice to the clearing, meeting the Cullens, telling my story…part of my story anyway. As that last thought ran through my head, a crippling wave of grief and guilt crashed over me; then suddenly it was gone. Knowing at once what the cause of this was, my head snapped up and there standing in the doorway was none other than Jasper Cullen; my brow eyes met his topaz ones and he flashed me a brief smile, which I returned shyly.

"You really shouldn't do that you know; I need to feel these things." I told him, while dropping my gaze.

"Yes, but once again, you're blaming yourself even though it wasn't your fault." He replied calmly.

I sighed loudly, but otherwise didn't react to what he had said. It was times like these that I wished I'd been able to learn to block out _all_ abilities. He must have sensed my annoyance because I thought heard him chuckle quietly under his breath before moving further into the room. I suddenly had a thought.

"Jasper, what time is it?" I asked, and from the look on his face I could tell that he hadn't expected that question; but he recovered almost immediately and smirked at me.

"It's half past two; you've been out of it quite a while," he told me before laughing at the astonished expression on my face.

"Oh my God, why didn't anyone wake me up?!" I shrieked; I couldn't believe they'd let me sleep so late! I launched myself off the couch and started heading for the door. Before I reached it Jasper called my name and I span around to face him.

"Where are you going? You aren't leaving already are you? Alice would kill you." He smiled softly at the mention of Alice, but it seemed he was serious. Well that was just great; even if I escaped Alice would probably hunt me down just to yell at me!

"Calm down Jasper, I'm not leaving; I'm just going outside to train. You're welcome to come with me." I told him; then sensing another presence at the top of the stairs, I added, "You too Emmett, I'm sure you'll find it entertaining. Anyone else that wants to join us is welcome too."

Once he knew what I was planning, even if he didn't understand, Jasper visibly relaxed. I turned back towards the door and came face to face with a grinning Emmett; he was so close that I jumped and my breath caught in my throat before I managed to get control of myself. I stepped round him and opened the door before stepping out into the cool afternoon air; I still couldn't believe that they'd let me sleep so late! I ran back to the meadow, with Jasper and Emmett kindly keeping pace with me instead of running ahead; although I wondered how much of that was chivalry and how much was making sure I wasn't going to run off.

It didn't take us that long before we reached the meadow, but Emmett, having run the whole way in silence, couldn't reign in his curiosity any longer.

"So what exactly do you do to train? Are you going to try and kick my arse? I hope so cause we all know who'd win that don't we." He didn't give me time to answer before he carried on, "or maybe you're going to show us the full extent of your abilities, or – "

I cut him off before he could say any more, "Emmett, stop. I'm not going to try and 'kick your arse' because I'm not a big fan of embarrassing myself." I made quotation marks in the air to emphasize my point and Jasper snickered, "I might show you just what I can do another time, but not today okay? All I'm going to be doing is some exercises like gymnastics and stuff, so don't get over-excited." I couldn't help but laugh as I said the last part of that sentence as it was obviously too late for that warning.

I closed my eyes and focused on calling the energy to me. It was only a few seconds before I could feel the familiar tingling in my palms, letting me know that all I had left to do was shape it to my will. I envisioned my training ground in the UK; every beam, every mat, every net, every dummy; everything, paying attention to every last detail. Once I had the image securely in my head, I released the flow of energy and was pleased to hear the guys' gasps of surprise; that was twice in one day I'd managed to surprise a vampire and I was very pleased with my achievement. I quickly put that thought out of my mind before it could interfere with my goal…I didn't exactly want unsafe equipment to materialize because I was too busy being smug; that would be downright humiliating!

Once I felt the last of the energy leave my body through my fingertips, I let the image drain from my mind and slowly let my eyes drift open. Everything looked exactly as it should and I was satisfied that I wouldn't have to make a second attempt in order to fix something. Only after I had finished inspecting my work did I turn to look at Emmett and Jasper; and when I didn't I couldn't do anything to contain the laugh that burst through my lips. Both of them were stood as still as statues, their mouths hanging wide open and their eyes wide.

"Did I really just see that or is it some kind of illusion? I mean there's no way that can be real; right?" Emmett muttered to Jasper; to which he replied with a shrug.

"No you're not imagining things, and it's not an illusion," I explained slowly, as if talking to a small child; but then again, I was talking to Emmett, "it's 100 real, well for now at least. I used my ability to shape raw energy into materials that I could use, and then put it together."

"But how?"

"The power of the mind is an incredible thing once you know how to use it properly; I simply wished for it to be so. Well that's not exactly true; I imagined that it was real and then hey presto it was. But it's not easy; in fact making something material out of nothing but energy is one of the most difficult things to master." I paused to take a deep breath before continuing, "Now if you don't mind, I have a training session to begin."

They didn't say anything to that, but they both nodded silently to show that I should go ahead with my training. I decided to start with some flips and other, simpler acrobatics; and so I made my way over to the largest floor mat I had created. After warming up, I threw three front flips and finished it with a back flip, landing all perfectly. Then I went on to do a series of double back flips and all manner of gymnastics. After that I went on to run through my combat training; throwing right hooks, crossovers and karate kicks; relentlessly attacking the dummies, using them to take out my anger with myself. Unfortunately, my focus slipped and I snapped the dummy completely in two, and with one part of my envisioned course destroyed the rest crumbled until there was once again nothing in the clearing but open air.

"Shit!" I whispered to myself; unfortunately it wasn't quietly enough.

"Something tells me that wasn't supposed to happen." A smug voice commented from about four feet behind me, I slowly turned and saw Edward standing with his brothers, Bella at his side. His face was just as smug as his tone had been and suddenly it was him I wanted to take my anger out on!

Jasper must have thought something about the levels of anger I was giving off because Edward's smug expression turned into a confident grin and he fell into an offensive crouch. I fell into my own crouch and glowered at him; waiting for him to make the first move. If anything, that just made his grin wider; he took one last look at Bella, to make sure she was out of the way, before charging me. I waited until the last possible moment to move, so that he wouldn't see it coming; I somersaulted over him, as high as I could and executed a roundhouse kick as soon as I landed. He was quicker than me this time though and he caught my ankle; before twisting his body and using the momentum - not that he needed it - to throw me the entire length of the clearing. I managed to catch myself with my hands before my face came into contact with the floor, and I flipped over onto my feet.

'Okay, so he wants to play like that. It's time to step things up!' I thought to myself, because there was no way I was going to let Edward Cullen upstage me.

I made sure to keep him in sight and returned to my crouched position; all the while planning a way to use his strength against him, without resorting to using my 'strength'. When I realised that he wasn't doing anything, I chanced a look at his face and I could tell he was surprised that I had managed to catch myself.

'Three times in one day; that must be a new record' I gleefully thought; mentally patting myself on the back. When he noticed that I was trying to read him, he composed his features quickly and charged at me again.

This time, instead of trying to jump over him and attack his back, as I was sure he thought I'd do, I waited until he was close enough and then back flipped, making sure that my feet connected with his chin. He reeled backwards but I obviously hadn't done any damage whatsoever; I was quickly realising that my slayer-strength wasn't going to get the job done and that I was going to have to rely on my gift. I was now so angry that I didn't care that this meant I was cheating; I knew I was going to feel bad about it in the morning though.

Before he could completely recover from the shock, I threw my elbow into the side of his head with as much force as I could muster and he was knocked off his feet for the second time in 24 hours. It took just seconds for him to get back up; but by then I was ready. Once he was standing again, I released the energy I'd been keeping built up in my hands; changing it to form an invisible battering ram, which I then slammed with full force against Edward. I'd designed the wall-like ram to smash against not only his body but his conscious mind as well; so while his body was been projected across the clearing, his mind was also being shaken up pretty badly. He hit the ground hard, creating a large crater; then he just lay there, completely stunned. Well, this was a first; my battering ram had never had this effect on anyone but humans before. Then again, I had thrown all my strength into that attack, maybe a little too much, based on the evidence.

I started to walk towards him so that I could check to make sure I hadn't caused too much damage; I highly doubted I had, but I figured it was best to check just in case. I had just reached his side when he suddenly snapped back to reality; I could tell immediately that I was in big trouble, he was clearly furious! His eyes, now almost coal black, were blazing with anger and his jaw muscles were clenched tight. He snarled viciously at me, his bared teeth reflecting the daylight, before reigning in his temper enough to speak.

"You cheated!" he growled at me through his teeth. My ingenious response was a shrug, which probably wasn't the best idea I'd had in a while. He roared angrily and threw a punch at my face; it connected with my jaw, and my head snapped back. When I tried to retaliate with right hook of my own, he caught my arm and twisted it sharply.

I heard the sickening snap before I felt it, but then I did feel it. Pain shot through my arm, just above my wrist, but before I could do more than suck in a sharp breath through my teeth, my face met the back of Edward's hand and my feet once again left the floor. I flew backwards a few feet before crumpling to the ground; I hadn't even bothered to try and catch myself, I was in too much shock!

A few minutes passed, before I sat up slowly, making sure to only lean my weight on my left arm, and keeping my right cradled against my chest. My first instinct was to check for danger and guard myself against it, so I immediately checked to see where Edward was and where his next attack was coming from. I was shocked by the scene in front of me; Edward was being restrained by Jasper and Emmett, and from the suddenly lethargy I felt, Jasper was doing all he could to force Edward to calm down. Bella was watching this with wide eyes and I could tell that she was unsure of how to react to the whole situation.

'Great work idiot, you've been here less than 24 hours and you're already causing trouble for other people. You should never have come here!' I chastised myself silently.

I forced myself to get to my feet, and seeing that Edward was now calm – even if only because of Jasper's influence – I decided that it was a good time to apologise. I walked over to the group with my head lowered shamefully and made sure to stop well out of Edward's reach.

"Guys I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to rile you up so much Edward, I swear. I'm sorry I cheated but don't worry, I learnt my lesson." I assured them all, while indicating my broken arm to highlight my point.

Edward deliberately ignored me but Emmett chuckled quietly before wrapping me in a one-armed bear hug. When this action jarred my already damaged arm, pain rippled through the entire length of it. I tried not to react in any way, but I couldn't hold back the whimper that escaped through my lips and of course everyone heard it. Emmett dropped me straight away and gave me an apologetic smile, Jasper gave Edward a pointed look which said 'see what you've done?', and guilt flashed briefly across Edward's eyes before the cold mask came back. Damn it, I was tougher than this! I knew I was, and I reminded myself that I shouldn't have reacted like that because I'd endured much, much worse. I quickly pulled myself together and made myself a promise that I would never show physical weakness in front of these people ever again.

"Sorry Rachel, I forg-"Emmett began before I cut him off once again.

"Don't worry about it Em, it's no big deal…I've had worse trust me. Besides, it's easily fixed; watch this."

For the third time that day, I called on the energy and channelled it for my use; only this time, I was using it for a more justifiable reason. I willed my bones to be healed, exactly the way before our little fight, and in the blink of an eye, I was healed.

"Jeez! Is there anything you can't do?!" Emmett exclaimed. I thought about that for a second.

"I can't fly." I answered him honestly.

He grinned good-naturedly in reply, before suggesting we return to the house so that Bella and I could get something to eat; we all agreed and started heading back to the house.

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Sorry for the lack of description for the fighting and training...i neither box nor do gymnastics so i was making it up with help from my addiction to films lol... review and let me know what you think, i won't be updating again until i at least get up to 20 reviews sorry...but at least i might have a chance of getting it finished on time now :)

thanks,  
IHeartMarvin


	8. First day part 1

Hey guys, sorry about the wait between chapters but I was waiting to see how many reviews I was going to get. I have to say I'm kinda disappointed...Hopefully this chapter will interest you enough that you feel like leaving me reviews. I honestly want to know what you think about my story and any criticism would also be appreciated. Okay, just a little heads up, this chapter probably has quite a few mistakes because I'm 100% British and in this chapter I attempt to write about High School. If you could point out any mistakes (major or minor) I would really appreciate it.

Also, I apologise for all the generalisation I make in this chapter. It's only to add humour and I don't mean anything by it. Well apart from the whole Wales/England thing but that's another story for another time...Let's just say that that's one mistake people make really often and it tends to annoy me.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Rachel, Sasha, Alex and Danny. Everything else belongs to Mrs Meyer (sob)

Anyway, on with the story. . . Don't forget to review :)

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As we were making our way back to the house, Edward still seething quietly, a brilliant idea hit me. I contemplated who would be able to answer my question the best, before deciding that it would probably be best to just ask Emmett as he seemed like my biggest ally at that moment in time.

"Emmett… do you think Forks High school has room for one more student? A transfer student perhaps?" I asked him. He looked at me blankly for a minute before I saw the penny drop and he grinned at me.

"I don't see why not. I'm sure we could provide you with the information you need." He answered me seriously,"Besides I hear that British girls are pretty popular over here." He added, with a sly smile. I should have known better than to expect a completely serious response from Emmett. I rolled my eyes at him, good-naturedly; I expected that kind of response from someone my age, not someone that had been around for almost 100 years!

"Well, well, who'd have thought that you and me watched the same TV programmes?" I threw back at him. "I never had you down as a chick flick kinda guy." I mentally patted congratulated myself for my quick thinking. I thought I had him beat with that comeback but I should have known better, I mean this _was _Emmett for crying out loud!

"Oh my god I know. Don't you just like, totally love Mean Girls?" He asked me in a perfect imitation of a valley girl. If it wasn't for the mischievous glint in his topaz eyes, I wouldn't have been able to tell that he was messing with me; he sounded completely serious. I was so shocked that I burst out laughing, and almost immediately Bella and Jasper joined me. Only Edward refused to see the funny side, not even a small smile appeared on his lips.

'Oh well' I thought; once again glad that I was able to keep my thoughts private, 'I'm sure he's laughing on the inside.'

When my crazy fit of laughter subsided and I could once again catch a breath, I turned to once again look at Emmett.

"Fair play Em, you're one of a kind." I told him honestly. I saw now that, for as long as I was going to be here, he and I would get on well. I also had a strong feeling that he would be my partner in crime whenever I felt like pissing Edward off, "so I'll be able to join the High School?" I checked; Even though I had a feeling that I already knew the answer. The massive grin on Emmett's face gave it away and I couldn't help but grin back at him. Unfortunately, it wasn't the _Big Friendly Giant _who answered me.

"It's not his decision to make. You'll have to ask Carlisle for his permission." Edward's velvet voice answered, and I turned to face him. He was wearing a smug smirk as he waited for my reaction and I made sure to nod and then shrug indifferently, even though I was thoroughly irritated with him.

To my complete and utter surprise, he snickered as though he could see straight through my show of indifference. When I just stared at him blankly, completely confused, he rolled his eyes at my slowness before nodding his head exaggeratedly in Jasper's direction. Understanding suddenly hit me like a tonne of bricks. Jasper had felt my true feelings and Edward had simply read my irritation through Jasper's mind. Edward continued to snicker quietly as I turned slowly to face Jasper.

"Traitor," I whispered; then my eyes narrowed and I stuck my tongue out childishly. He returned my glare with a look of overdone innocence, and I realised that he had intentionally let Edward know how I felt. He would pay for that sometime, when he was least expecting it!

For now though I had more important things to sort out. The Cullens' enormous white mansion was in front of me once again and I had to make sure I was on my best behaviour if I was going to be given a chance to stir things up in Forks. The very thought of finally getting a chance to have some fun made me grin like a maniac before I caught myself and made sure to neutralise my expression. I saw Jasper flash me a curious look though and I knew that he could still feel the glee radiating off me like a tidal wave. I winked at him before leaving the rest of the group behind in my rush to find Carlisle and get him to approve my idea. Once I entered the house, the sickly sweet undertone to the air caught my attention again but it was much less noticeable than it had been the night before, and I was shocked to realise that I must already be becoming desensitised to their scents. I turned to head into the dinning room to start my search, but before I'd taken more than one step Alice called out to me.

"You'll waste your time looking down here. He's in his study." She informed me quickly. At her words, I span round and sprinted for the elegant staircase while at the same time calling out my thanks to Alice; psychics sure were useful at times.

I didn't pause until I reached the door to Carlisle's office, and even then I only paused out of courtesy and as a way of showing that I respected him. I knocked loudly on the door to his study, and almost immediately he told me to enter. I marched straight in and without so much as commenting on the sheer number of books he had in his study (something I would normally do if I wasn't so excited) dropped down into the nearest available chair. He gave me a curious look but didn't comment on my behaviour, for which I was thankful because I wasn't particularly in the mood for the Spanish inquisition. I took a deep breath to try and calm myself, and he chuckled quietly when my heart continued to race frantically. I put on my best tortured puppy look, with eyes wide and glassy, pouting lips and ducked head, and got ready to plead and beg.

To my extreme surprise I needn't have bothered at all, as soon as I opened my mouth to make my request, he held up a deathly white hand to stop me.

"Rachel I already know what you wanted to ask so all the pouting is really unnecessary. Of course you can join the school here, in fact it would probably be really useful considering the fact that you and Rosalie don't interact well with each other. Just promise me that you won't cause trouble for the poor students; the last thing we need is a rogue vampire slayer." He informed me with an easy smile on his face. I was stunned but I recovered quickly and fixed him with my best smirk.

"Well I'm afraid I can't promise that, I mean it's been such a long time since I've been in school that some fun is definitely needed," I paused to let that sink in before continuing, "but, I do promise to try and behave just like a proper young woman should."

His only response was to roll his eyes so I took that to mean that I was excused and I walked out of the study. I checked to make sure that no one was near before doing a quick celebratory dance then I headed downstairs to find Emmett and pass on the good news. As I came down the stairs, I heard the sound of someone playing the piano and I turned the corner to see that the rest of the family was in the sitting room; Rosalie was flicking through a fashion magazine and looking thoroughly bored, Alice was sitting on Jaspers lap and they were whispering quietly to each other in a little world of their own, Edward was sitting at the piano, playing the beautiful melody I had heard and Bella and Esme were standing around the piano, watching and listening to him play. It was then that I realised I had been mistaken, the rest of the family wasn't in the sitting room; Emmett was missing. I had no idea how I hadn't immediately seen that he wasn't there, it was pretty hard to miss the sheer mass that was Emmett.

At that precise moment, my spider senses started to tingle; meaning that the hair at the base of my neck stood on end and I felt the familiar sensation of pins and needles in between my shoulder blades that announced someone was behind me. I just had time to jump forward out of Emmett's reach before his stupidly large arms could wrap around my waist with the potential crush me. I heard him huff behind me when his arms caught nothing but air and as soon as my feet connected with the floor again I spun to face him, awaiting his next attack. Surprisingly, there wasn't one; he just grinned stupidly at me and reached out to wrap me in one of his infamous bear hugs. When he put me back down he laughed and I looked at him curiously, waiting for an explanation for both the laughing and the surprise ambush.

"Damn kid, you move fast." Was all he said in explanation, but it was enough to set me laughing to. Then I remembered everyone else in the room and I turned away from Emmett - trying to get the massive grin off my face – wondering why all noise had suddenly seemed to cease.

When I turned around I noticed that everyone was watching us; Alice and Jasper had even come out of their separate world to see what was going on. Rosalie was glaring daggers at me and I wondered why I hadn't caught fire yet, it was that fierce, but everyone else looked highly amused and it seemed as though they were all fighting grins of their own.

"Well Emmett, just so you know, trying to ambush me is about as useful as trying to get something passed Alice or Edward." I smirked, "As soon as you start sneaking you set my spider senses tingling and it's game over for you." I finished rather dramatically.

Everyone's eyebrows had risen at the mention of spider senses and I was struggling not to snicker childishly at the looks on their faces. Slowly the incredulous expressions slipped off their faces and Alice's eyes brightened in a way that made her look dangerously mischievous.

"Alice… what are you planning that's making you look at me like that?" I questioned suspiciously. But as soon as the words left my mouth she straightened out her expression and shrugged innocently; I didn't buy it at all!

"Nothing, I was just thinking that maybe you and I should test this little quirk of yours at some point." She answered me with such an air of nonchalance that I was seriously impressed. It was so good that if I hadn't been 100% sure that she had an ulterior motive for suggesting this idea, I would have believed her immediately.

As it was though, I thought over what she'd said and after a few minutes of contemplation I realised that if anyone was capable of ambushing me - taking into account my little talent – it would be Alice, because she would be able to see where I was going to move to. It would be extremely similar to when Edward and Alice played chess.

Once I came to that conclusion, I quickly shook my head, "No thanks Alice, I'm good."

"What's wrong _slayer_?" Edward shot in my direction, "scared of being beaten at your own game?"

I had no idea what he meant by that, but luckily I already had a good enough comeback to the first part. I couldn't help the grimace I gave him though.

"No Edward, I'm not afraid of being beaten but I'd rather not make a fool of myself trying to best a vampire again. Once was quite enough thank you." I shook my head regretfully at the memory of earlier that morning and Edward smirked smugly, looking exactly like the cat that ate the canary.

'Glad to see we're on the same wavelength.' I thought sarcastically; now highly irritated with Edward Cullen. I caught the curious looks from Rosalie, Esme and surprisingly, Alice (how had she missed seeing that?) and thought that I'd better explain, seeing how Edward obviously wasn't going to! I told the three women what had happened and by the time I'd finished there was a different emotion on each of their faces. Alice's was the easiest to decipher because she was just confused and amazed that she'd missed so much. Rosalie's face was practically shining with glee but I wasn't sure whether she was glad I'd attacked Edward or that he'd beaten me. I suspected it was the latter but it could well have been a bit of both. It was Esme's expression that threw me completely; she looked really disappointed but I had no idea whether she it was me or Edward that she was upset with. Just in case it was me, I hung my head in what I hoped was an apologetic way and out of the corner of my eye I noticed that the 'mighty' Edward Cullen was doing the exact same thing. I didn't have to wait long before I got the answer I was waiting for.

"Edward I'm very disappointed with you, I thought I'd raised you with more manners than that. But we'll put it down do a momentary lapse of judgement this time and I don't want to hear about anymore fighting between you two…got it?" She finished sternly and Edward nodded. Once she was convinced that he meant it she turned to me and I focused my gaze intently on my own considerably dirty shoes and I grimaced as I realised that I was still wearing the same clothes from the day before. As Esme began talking, I made sure to listen fully, "And Rachel I have to say that I'm quite disappointed with you as well. That was no way for a young lady to act and I don't want to hear of that kind of behaviour from you again…am I clear?" and with that she gave me such a disapproving look that I couldn't do anything except duck my head even further.

"I'm really sorry Esme, but in my defence, I have _never_ been ladylike and I grew up in a tiny village with a load of boys. I know that's no excuse for my behaviour but it's the only one I have." I said sincerely.

She smiled kindly at me and I realised that I'd already been forgiven, "That's alright dear, but I would like it if you'd let Carlisle examine your arm just to make sure that everything's okay." She told me and it sounded as though she was asking my permission.

"Sure but honestly my arm is fine."

"Nevertheless I'll feel better once Carlisle has checked it over." She insisted, so I shrugged and nodded.

"Okay but can I go and make myself something to eat first? I don't mean to be so forward but I'm absolutely starving."

"Of course dear, I'm sorry, I completely forgot about feeding the humans." She looked so horrified by this fact that I had to laugh.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. I'll just go and make myself a sandwich now. You want anything Bella?" I asked, remembering my manners at the last moment. But I needn't have bothered because she shook her head in my general direction before turning back to watch Edward.

I sighed and wondered out of the sitting room and into the enormous kitchen. 'Now what?' I thought to myself when I realised that I had no idea where anything was and I didn't fancy the idea of just rummaging through random cupboards. I sighed again, louder this time and pondered how I was going to solve this dilemma. In the end I decided to try my usual solution; I started talking to myself.

"Okay…if I was a loaf of bread where would I hide?" I asked myself quietly, but it obviously wasn't as quiet as I thought it was, because the next thing I knew, someone was chuckling behind me.

"Try the breadbin, I'd wager that'd be where the bread is." Emmett's loud voice teased and when I turned to look at him he was pointing towards a giant metal container that looked like it was big enough to keep several saucepans in.

I snorted, "Em I hate to break it to you, but that's not what a breadbin's meant to look like."

He just shrugged before nudging me towards it, and sure enough, once I opened it I found that it did indeed contain a few loaves of bread. I pulled out one of them and set in on the pristine work surface before turning back to Emmett.

"Butter?"

He gave me a look that clearly questioned my intelligence but answered anyway, "In the fridge."

"Yes I know butter's kept in the fridge Emmett but which one of these many doors happens to be the fridge?" I asked impatiently.

He laughed and once again pointed me in the right direction. I was surprised to see that the fridge was stacked full of all different kinds of food. I decided it was a ham salad sandwich kind of day today and I retrieved all the necessary ingredients and placed them next to the loaf of bread.

"Knife?" I called over my shoulder.

"First drawer on your left." He sounded like he was thoroughly enjoying my incompetence in the kitchen.

I found the knife and began making myself a plate-load of sandwiches (I really was hungry). When I was done, I cleared everything away and sat on a seat in the dinning room. It felt wrong to use the table as anything other than a meeting point for family discussions, but where else was I supposed to sit? Emmett followed me and sat down across from me as I started to eat and it was then that I remembered the news that I had previously been excited to tell him.

"Hey Em, good news, Carlisle said that I can start at the school and the sooner the better. I hope I'm registered by tomorrow so I can stir things up a bit down at the school."

He laughed at my enthusiasm and I winked at him before taking another bite out of my sandwich. I was so excited that I was honestly surprised I wasn't bouncing around in my seat. I couldn't wait to see how the people from the homely little town of forks reacted to my presence in the school. I would be really disappointed if I'd gotten so worked up, only to find out that I couldn't start at the High School for another week or more. As I was chewing my latest mouthful of sandwich it occurred to me that I didn't have to wait long to find out. I quickly scoffed the remainder of my food and when I noticed Emmett's raised eyebrows, I just shook my head and continued to eat as quickly as I could.

Once I was finished, I quickly rinsed my plate before putting it in the dishwasher. Then I grabbed Emmett's arm and dragged him behind me as I danced back into the sitting room, he seemed a little worried for my sanity but he allowed me to tow him along. I danced straight up to where Alice and Jasper were snuggled on the couch and plopped myself down on Jasper's left and waited for them to acknowledge my presence beside them. Emmett just stood behind me with a confused look on his face while I waited for them to pay attention to me. After what seemed like forever, but was probably only a few minutes, Alice sighed loudly and turned to face me.

"What do you want?" she huffed and I tried not to feel hurt by her tone.

"Awww thanks Alice, I love you too." I answered sarcastically and she gave me a look that clearly said she wasn't amused. "I'm sorry I interrupted but I wanted to ask you for a favour, then I promise I'll leave you alone.

"I was wondering if you'd just check for me and see when I'm going to be starting at the high school." I couldn't keep the crazy excitement from my voice and I knew that all the Cullens would think I was insane for reacting this way about _school_, but I wanted desperately to meet new people and have some fun that I was pretty delirious.

"Is that all? If I'd have known it wasn't important I would have ignored you…oh well I might as well look now." Despite her harsh words her tone was teasing so I knew she didn't mean it. The little pixie was an amazing actress. Her eyes went blank and now that I was seeing it for the first time it was actually just a little bit creepy. Then it was over and her face was back to normal, she was smiling which I took to be a good sign. "It's good news, you'll be registered by later on today and you'll start tomorrow."

I couldn't help the highly girly squeal that I let out at the news, and I barely refrained from jumping on her and giving her a massive hug. Everyone in the room laughed at me and my face flushed with embarrassment but I had a new priority now and needed another favour off Alice.

"Alice, I'm going to need another favour, but hopefully you'll be happier with this one. Will you give me a make-over tomorrow before school please? I'd love to get out of these clothes and into a new set…after a shower obviously." I asked quickly and then held my breath.

Her answering smile was dazzling and I was filled with instant relief.

"I thought you'd never ask. I'm glad I've finally found someone who'll let me play Barbie without having to beg.

I was glad I'd managed to get everything sorted so easily and I thanked Alice before moving to the other couch to give her and Jasper some privacy while I waited for Carlisle to come and examine my arm. I didn't have to wait long before he gracefully stepped into the room and walked over to me. He quickly checked my arm before announcing that it was perfectly fine, in fact he said it didn't feel like it had ever been broken before. I thanked him for his help; it seemed I was thanking people a lot today, and then I stood up and started walking to the door. I paused then and turned to ask if anyone wanted to go with me but just as I expected, only Emmett did. He followed me outside and once we were outside I decided I was going to have a little fun with my favourite giant. I waited until we'd reached the bottom of the steps to make my move; I knew I'd have to be really quick because even with my slayer strength and speed, he still had the better reflexes.

I waited to make sure I had the best possible angle and to so that I could check that he didn't suspect anything. When I was as certain as I could be I made my move; I leapt backwards over his head in a movement so quick I was surprised I didn't give myself whiplash, I'd never moved that fast before but I was also pleased. Then before he had a chance to completely process what was going on, I gripped his shoulders tightly and wrapped my legs as far as I could around his waist so that I was firmly and safely attached to his back before I reached up to press my mouth against the side of his neck. Just as I expected them to, his instincts took over and he froze, I silently laughed, that had been easier than I thought it would be and now I had the upper hand.

"Gotcha, big bear." I whispered before bursting out laughing.

This broke Emmett out of his frozen state, he growly lowly, grabbed one of my hands off his shoulder and threw me off his back again. I would have been terrified if not for the fact that his grip was gentle enough to show me that he was still in control and he was only playing. I landed on my feet and crouched into a defensive position while I waited for him to make his move.

"You're going to pay for that you know." He said quietly.

"Oh bring it on." I retorted even though inside I was much less confident. My retort had the desired effect though and he snarled and leaped forward.

I'd been expecting this and managed to slide under him as he jumped at me, barely passing under his feet. He snarled again when he landed in the now empty space I'd occupied just moments before. No more than a second passed before I was back on my feet, but a movement in the corner of my sight and I turned to see that the entire family had been drawn out of the house by the sounds of Emmett's temper tantrum and were all stood on the porch watching us. Emmett took advantage of my distraction and grabbed me from behind; effectively pinning my arms to my sides and holding me in place. I struggled futilely for a few moments before accepting defeat for the moment; his grip was just too solid. He chuckled when he felt me relax and then it was his turn to whisper in my ear.

"I don't think you're getting out of this one little one." He told me happily and I could hear the smile in his voice.

His words only served to fill me with a new determination and I thought of the one and only way I'd be able to get free; it would be my only chance to get free and I really hoped it would work. I felt it as he moved his head back and I closed my eyes and waited until I could feel his cool breath on the back of my head. As soon as I felt the lightest of breaths touch my head, I threw myself backwards with all my strength and was rewarded with the sound of the back of my head hitting his face. I heard a quiet crunch and I was surprised that I'd managed to cause any damage. Emmett gasped and then his grip loosened on me; it was only a little bit but it was enough for me to squirm loose.

Once I was loose I stepped out of his reach and turned back to face him with an Edward worthy smirk plastered on my face. But as I turned around, the movement made me feel a bit woozy and I was made aware of the painful throbbing in the back of my head. I belatedly realised that it was highly likely that it had been my skull I heard before and not Emmett's nose breaking. I cursed loudly and reached up to gently touch the back of my skull, and I determined that it wasn't damaged at all other than an extremely tender lump that would go down in a few days. Confused now, I looked at Emmett to see what the source of the noise had been and I saw that I had actually broken his nose and that he was holding it in place while it healed. I instantly felt guilty but I wasn't sorry enough to regret trying it; I just knew that I wouldn't be doing it again in a hurry.

"Ouch. Sorry about that big bear, I didn't actually think it would do any damage." I apologised.

"Don't worry about it little one it'll be healed in a minute. But in future try not to head butt me ok?" he replied good-naturedly.

"Don't worry, my head feels like I ran head-first into a brick wall; which I might as well have done." I added the last part under my breath although I'm sure that everyone except Bella heard me anyway. "But never mind about that; can we carry on? I promise not to head butt you again." I asked even though I knew he'd agree. He hated losing almost as much as I did. He nodded and I tried to quickly think up a plan that would actually work.

I concluded, as he took a swipe at me with his right arm and I ducked; that I was just going to have to stay on the defensive and wait for the opening I needed to use the same technique I had in the beginning. I knew it wouldn't be easy because he would be expecting it this time but it was the only thing I could think of because there was no way I could overpower him. With this decided, I waited for him to make his next move. I dodged another swipe easily, but didn't have time to completely avoid the punch that followed it, and I had to raise my arm to block the blow that had been heading for my jaw. What I really didn't expect was that it was his palm and not his fist that connected with my left arm. Unfortunately, he now had my arm in an unbreakable grip and I knew that I wouldn't be able to move away. So I did the only thing I could, and moved towards him; hoping to duck under his arm and get behind him, even though I didn't expect it to work.

Luckily for me, he was so shocked that I was doing the opposite to what he expected that he reacted almost as slowly as the first time I pounced on him, and I managed to duck under his arm and twist it behind him until my own arm came loose. I then wasted no time in jumping up onto his back again, but he'd already had time to recover by then and I just barely had time to get a secure enough grip before his elbow connected with my ribs. The breath left my body in one big whoosh and I was nearly thrown off his back. As I gasped for breath I managed to wrap a leg around each of his arms and then lock my ankles together in front of my behind his back, and wrap both of my arms around his neck to pin him in place. I felt him flex his arms and he nearly broke my hold but now that they were being held awkwardly, I had just enough strength to hold him in place; still trying to catch my breath. He struggled for a minute and I closed my eyes, praying that my grip would hold, and then suddenly he relaxed and stood completely still; not moving at all except for his chest rising and falling as he breathed quietly. I didn't dare loosen my grip in case he was faking but I was bored now and I wanted to find something else to do.

"Hard lines big bear, I win; even if it is purely out of luck. You'll beat me easily next time." I said loudly before jumping down and stepping in front of him to give him a friendly hug.

He looked down at me and said, "Of course I will little one, everyone can see that." He laughed. "But congrats anyway; for a human you're pretty tough." I noticed that without consciously making the decision to (on my part anyway), we'd given each other pet names. I suddenly realised how attached to Emmett I already was after only a day; he really was the big brother I never had.

"Thanks Em. I think I'll take that as a compliment." I laughed.

"You do that." He answered, "So what are we doing now?"

"Do you mind if I take a bath and get changed and then we just chill and watch TV?" I asked with a small yawn; I was completely exhausted after all the excitement of the day and I just wanted to wind down.

I turned to everyone stood on the doorstep and they all nodded, except for Rosalie who was pretending I didn't exist, so I turned and slowly headed back into the house after asking Alice if she could find me something to sleep in. I used the banister to literally drag myself up the stairs, and waited impatiently in the extravagant bathroom for the pixie to magic up some clothes for me. I was really looking forward to getting in the shower and letting the warm water soothe my tense muscles; I just needed to wind down and relax. Alice didn't disappoint, she brought me a set of clothes that obviously belonged to Bella; they were a pair of flannel pants and an oversized t-shirt; I was surprised, since when does Alice approve of flannel? I didn't dwell on that thought for too long though, I just nodded in thanks and started to take my sweater off. Alice smiled sweetly and then left me in peace, which I was extremely grateful for. Once I was undressed, I stepped into the shower and sighed in contentment as the hot water ran over me and I felt every muscle in my body slowly unknot; this was heaven!

I spent ages in the shower, making sure to thoroughly wash my hair and body until I felt as though I couldn't possibly get any cleaner. I now felt fresh but completely drained and I stumbled out of the shower in a way that reminded me so much of Bella that I very nearly laughed out loud. I quickly dried off and got changed, once again thankful that Alice had been considerate enough to bring me something decent by normal people's standards.

I slowly made my way downstairs and I saw that everyone was once again in the sitting room but this time they were deep in conversation. I was surprised because they looked as though they'd been having this conversation for a while already and when I looked at the clock I saw that I'd actually been in the shower for a good half an hour. I was mildly embarrassed by this fact but I was much too tired to show it so instead I just cleared my throat and looked around the room with heavy eyes. Esme took one look at me and then she was on her feet and by my side, practically holding me up.

"Oh you poor thing, you've had a long day, now sit down before you fall down." She ordered in a motherly tone of voice. The only response I could manage was a weak smile, but I allowed her to steer me to the couch and I curled into a comfortable position before telling Emmett what I wanted to watch and what channel he'd find it on.

He snorted but didn't make a move to change the channel. When I frowned in confusion he looked even more amused.

"Oh come on! You can't seriously want to watch that crap? It's so full of myths that it's not even funny." His voice and expression were so full of disgust that I definitely had to have my way now.

"But Em…it's a classic. It's funny and the whole point is to make fun of the myths. Plus don't forget that it's actually mostly based on true events and that these vampires do exist to; they just drew the short straw." I tried to make him see my point, but I could already see that I was going to have to be completely truthful if he was ever going to change the damn channel.

"I still think it's cr-"

"You didn't let me finish making my point." I sighed quietly, "I also have another reason for watching it. It's not just a brilliant program but it looks like I'm not the first slayer to be tormented by Spike and Angelus." I admitted quietly.

His face dropped out of what I assumed was pity but he still refused to change the channel, on the grounds that I shouldn't stress myself out and that they'd protect me if I was ever in danger. Well that and because he was watching a football game at the moment. At that I had to laugh and he seemed glad that he'd managed to cheer me up again. I shook my head at his reasoning but snuggled further into the sofa and retreated into my own mind for a while.

'Why do they call it football anyway? I mean they use their hands more than their feet! Then there's the whole thing with calling proper football soccer over here; what's with that?'

I smiled slightly at the direction my thoughts had gone and decided that this was my cue to call it a night and go to sleep. I thought about getting up and asking if they had a spare bed I could use for the night, seeing as the only other person who needed to sleep was Bella; but I was too tired to even open my eyes.

'Wait a minute; when did they close?'

That was my last coherent thought before exhaustion claimed me and within seconds I was deeply asleep.

* * *

I woke up the next morning, remembering the swirling confusion from my dreams; nothing had made any sense whatsoever, apart from the one about how my sub-conscious thought my first day of school was likely to go.

'School... Oh my god I need to get ready right now or I am so gonna be late!! Where the hell is Alice? She promised she'd help me get ready. Also, is it too much to ask that someone wake me up? I am so gonna kill…'

My thought process suddenly stopped when I opened my eyes and saw that I wasn't where I expected to be, and a wave of panic hit me before my brain had a chance to kick into action. Once it did though, I realised that sometime after I had fallen asleep someone must have carried me into one of the bedrooms. My annoyance at Alice quickly evaporated and in its place was gratitude for the entire family. From the very feminine feel of the room, I decided that I must be in Jasper and Alice's bedroom. Poor Jasper; how he'd managed to put up with the overactive pixie for so many decades was a mystery to me. How I was supposed to wake up in here every morning and not lose my mind I had no idea; it was just too bright and girly.

Sighing I got out from under the luxurious and most likely very expensive sheets and turned to head into the bathroom to freshen up before I let Alice work her magic. As I opened the door to leave my borrowed bedroom I came face to face with the little pixie herself and I couldn't help the squeak of fear that escaped me. Once I saw it was Alice I gave her the brightest early morning smile I could manage, even though my heart was still thundering. She just laughed her bell like laugh, handed me a toothbrush and shoved me towards the bathroom. I wasn't prepared for that so I stumbled along clumsily and muttered about pushy little pixies under my breath.

I spent as little time as possible in the bathroom because I knew that Alice would appreciate it if she had plenty of time to work with. I was hoping that if I was a nice helpful patient that didn't complain (much) then she'd be willing to make me look good every morning before school. I didn't see why she'd object though because I'd be helping out 3 people in the process; Id get the make-over I wanted, Alice would get the test dummy she wanted and Bella wouldn't be forced to endure hours of what she deems to be torture; everybody'd be a winner.

That last thought had me running back to my room as though the building was on fire. Alice seemed pleased by my enthusiasm and within minutes we were both bouncing around and giggling, while trying to find a decent outfit for me to wear for the day ahead. We finally settled on a pair of figure hugging jeans and a light blue, fitted shirt which she paired with some silver ballet flats and then she got started on my hair and makeup. First she straightened my hair before curling a few bits into loose ringlets and covered the whole thing with a light layer of hairspray to keep it in place. She kept my makeup light, with some darker eye shadow to give my eyes a smoky look that made my eyes stand out. Finally she added two coats of mascara and I was all set to go to school and cause a stir; I was even more eager to get to school now, if that was even possible.

As we left the room, Alice mentioned that if I wanted breakfast I'd have to grab something to take with us because otherwise I was going to be late on the first day. I ran into the kitchen to grab a cereal bar and the backpack Alice was lending me and then I turned to sprint outside to meet Alice at the Porsche. That's when I collided with Emmett and the next thing I knew, I was laying on the floor.

"Where are you in such a rush to get to little one?" he asked as he picked me up off the floor. I gave him an incredulous look; how could he have forgotten?

"Don't play stupid Emmett; you know damn well I'm going to school." I answered him shortly. I heard snickering from the sitting room behind me, and I realised that Jasper must be listening in. Emmett however, didn't seem to notice my annoyed tone. In fact, he just carried on as though I hadn't spoken.

"Never mind, that was a stupid question. I still can't believe you're so excited about going to _school_. But weren't you even going to say goodbye to your favourite friendly vampire?" he questioned, with a sad puppy face. I remembered Jasper in the next room and inspiration hit.

"Oh sorry," I said to Emmett. Then I turned around and stuck my head through the sitting room doorway. When Jasper looked up, I winked at him and he grinned to show that he'd been listening and new what I was planning. "I'm off to school now Jasper; I'll see you later okay." I asked; barely containing my laughter.

I wiped the smile off my face turned back around to face Emmett, feeling pleased with myself. But when I saw the hurt look on Emmett's face I felt instantly guilty.

"I'm sorry Em. You know I love you; you're my big brother bear remember." I said apologetically.

As I was speaking, his face broke into a massive grin. That sneaky giant had played me; man could act! I couldn't believe he'd been able to get even so quickly.

"Ha gotcha; you're not the only wise act around here little one. I know Alice is resident psychic, but I see a grand future for us as partners in crime." He told me happily, and I could almost see the gears in his head turning as he thought up possible pranks; all of which, Alice was likely to foil.

"We'll see Em. I don't fancy incurring the wrath of the ice princess." I said; making sure to say the last part under my breath so that Rosalie herself wouldn't hear me. Emmett snapped out of his thoughts with that comment, but he just shook his head at me.

"She's going to throw a fit when she hears your new nickname for her."

"That's sort of the point Em. Anyway, I really do need to go now, I'm really late. Let's just hope that Alice's maniacal driving can get me there on time. See you later big bear." I gave him a quick hug, then stepped past him and sprinted out the front door before coming to a skidding halt next to Alice's bright yellow Porsche 911 turbo.

"I'm so sorry Alice, I ran into Emmett; literally," I apologised. Wow I was doing that a lot lately.

"No problem, it gives me a chance to test the limits on my new toy." She answered lightly and I got the feeling that she had 'seen' beforehand that my encounter with her brother would give her an excuse to test the Porsche's limits.

With that, we both jumped in the car and Alice sped down the drive; accompanied by the sound of squealing tyres and leaving nothing but dust in our wake. I wasn't at all bothered at all by Alice's crazy driving, which surprised me. I would have thought that seeing trees flash by at crazy speeds would scare me, but it seemed I had the Cullens' need for speed. But then she gasped loudly and I looked across to see that she was sitting in the driver's seat with the familiar blank look on her face. My heart started hammering against my chest and my hands were shaking; what if we hit a tree? I'd be killed. Luckily it only lasted a minute or so, and the car never deviated from its path (no wonder the Cullens' never had an accident if they could drive and zone out at the same time without any trouble!). When she came back to herself, Alice was grinning happily but once her gaze reached me her face turned half worried, half apologetic; I imagined that I was quite a sight, sitting there wide-eyed and pale.

"Sorry about that." She said repentantly.

"It's fine." I answered shakily, "So what did you see?"

By the look on her face, I'd just said the magic words; the grin was back and her eyes were sparkling with joy.

"There's going to be a thunder storm tonight." She told me, while practically bouncing in her seat. I knew what that meant; we'd be playing baseball tonight. Well they would; I'd probably end up watching. There was no way I'd be able to keep up with them; no matter how fast Emmett thought move.

"Cool. But Alice, how have you got time to play baseball? Aren't you guys meant to be training with the pack ready for the newborn attack?" I asked worriedly.

"Well actually, we've been sparring, or whatever you want to call it, every night after you fall asleep." She laughed at my obliviousness, "but the wolves kind of miss you. That, and they heard about what happened with Edward and Emmett and they can't wait for a chance to test you themselves."

"So basically they're planning on ganging up on me?" I asked dejectedly. Then my brain processed everything Alice had said.

"Hang on; you mean you've been going without me?" I very nearly shrieked at her. She just laughed at me and nodded; not even bothering to give me an explanation.

We drove in silence for a few minutes. I was sulking about being left behind and Alice was giving me time to calm down before school. But I couldn't stand the silence for long and I'd thought of another question to ask Alice.

"Alice…do you know of anywhere near here where I can find a reasonably priced motorcycle?" I asked her hopefully, "A garage full of second hand bikes or…" My sentence trailed off when I noticed that Alice was looking at me as though I had grown another head.

"What?"

"Rachel, please tell me that I didn't just hear you use the words 'second hand'." She said the word with so much distaste that I actually flinched. Then I remembered her love of spending money; and considering she had enough money to buy several sports cars, her reaction had been pretty mild.

"Yes Alice I'm afraid you did. Not all of us have enough money for a nice shiny, new Porsche." I joked light-heartedly.

"Don't be silly. If you want a motorcycle I'll buy you the best; and by that of course I mean fastest, one available!" she squealed, and then proceeded to start bouncing around in the driver's seat.

"No Alice, you're not buying me a motorcycle. It's already enough that you guys are letting me live with you; you can't go buying me expensive things too." I told her forcefully.

Her face fell and I thought I'd won; that was until she started using the infamous Cullen pout on me. It worked like a charm and I gave in immediately, but not without making sure I was only getting what I wanted.

"Alice it really isn't fair to dazzle me like that you know." I teased, "But if you really want to get me a bike, I want a black Kawasaki Ninja and nothing else, okay?"

"But they're so old, don't you want something newer?" She pleaded with me.

"Alice I'm positive that's what I want. They may be old but I've always wanted one. If you get me anything else, I'll have Emmett send it back." I threatened.

"Okay, I give up. You have absolutely no sense of style but I can see that I'm not going to be able to change that. I'll get you the bike you want but in future you have to accept whatever I get for you, deal?"

I knew that this was the best offer I was going to get so I accepted. We fell back into silence and after a few minutes, we arrived at Forks high school.

I couldn't keep the grin off my face as I looked up at the very same building I had been seeing in my dreams for the past few months. The buildings were all old and weathered but the school had a certain charm. It reminded me of my old school back home in many ways, but it was also very different. There were very few vehicles in the lot but that was to be expected as the seniors had all graduated. As I sat, taking everything in, I suddenly felt very nervous. I was a freshman, joining the school at the very end of term; there was no way I'd be accepted here. I wanted to go home, fight with Em, Jasper and Edward, and completely forget about this stupid idea. Unfortunately, Alice wasn't willing for that to happen.

"Don't even think about it missy. You're going to school and you'll have a load of new friends by the end of the day." She told me. When I gave her an incredulous look she rolled her eyes, "trust me; I'm psychic remember."

This made me feel a bit better so I nodded, took a deep breath and stepped out of the car, into the lot. As soon as I was out of the car, Alice whipped it around and sped away.

'Well I'm definitely not leaving now.' I sighed mentally.

After taking another deep, calming breath and then headed into the main office. The secretary, Mrs Cope, looked just like she had in my freaky-telling-Bella's-life-story dreams. She smiled kindly at me and asked how she could help.

"I'm the new student, my name's Rachel Hall." I answered shyly.

"Oh yes, I was told to expect you. You're joining us awfully late in the term dear." She said while handing me my schedule and a map. I didn't like the direction this conversation was going; it was time to distract her.

"Yes ma'am, I've only just moved here and I wanted to start at the new school as soon as possible." I answered, trying to sound really embarrassed.

"Ooh, British _and _polite; the boys are going to love you." She said with a giggle. _Mission accomplished._ I forced a laugh with her before saying goodbye and heading back outside.

Once I made it back outside I snickered and rolled my eyes, thinking about how Mrs Cope had acted. Honestly, how old was she? I shook my head to clear it of pointless thoughts and set off for homeroom. I got there at the same time as someone else and we collided. I ended up on the floor for the second time that morning. Oh well, at least this person was made of softer stuff than Emmett. As I picked myself up off the floor I noticed that this person was in fact a boy and he was looking at me with a massive smirk on his face. How on Earth had he managed to stay upright? He was slightly taller than me, about 5' 7", and had dark brown hair that fell into his mischievous brown eyes. Once I realised that I had been staring, I moved my gaze over the rest of him. He was wearing baggy jeans and a green hooded jacket that was tight enough to hint at the muscles underneath. On his feet, were a pair of white Nike trainers. I snapped myself out of my observations and smiled apologetically at him.

"Sorry, I don't usually make a habit of running people down." I said.

"Don't worry about it. I'm used to girls falling at my feet." He replied. That's all it took for me to decide that I didn't like him. I mean, sure he had an amazing smile, but he was so big-headed I was surprised his shoulders could hold the weight.

"Riight, I'll believe that when I see it." I scoffed.

"You just experienced it for yourself babe." He shot back cockily.

"No I think you'll find what actually happened is that I crashed into an arrogant jerk." I retaliated. With that I squeezed past him and started to head into the classroom. His hand on my elbow stopped me. He lent in close behind me and whispered in my ear.

"Well aren't you feisty? We'll continue this later," he laughed, "Oh, and I dig the accent babe; it's hot." He added, before stepping past me and heading to his desk. I stood there, blinking in shock, for a few minutes before following him into the classroom and walking to the teacher's desk. I handed her my slip to and she sent me to an empty seat near the back; thankfully without making me introduce myself.

I took my seat and prepared myself to sit quietly by myself for the whole period. Imagine my surprise when a tall brunette walked over to where I was sitting, and sat in the empty space next to me. I could tell that she was the type of person that's considered pretty, but after spending time with Rosalie, Alice and Bella she seemed plain normal. Her hair was long and shiny, with red tints to it. Her hair fell across her face in a side fringe, but the rest was held back with a purple stretch headband. She was wearing a pair of jeans, similar to mine but obviously not designer. Seriously though, the only people in Forks, other than the Cullens, who wore designer clothes, were me and Bella; and that was only because we had Alice dressing us. She'd paired the jeans with a tight black tank top that showed off too much cleavage for my liking, and an open, white hooded jacket. The whole outfit practically screamed 'chav' but somehow she pulled it off.

When she turned to face me though, I noticed that she was wearing a thick layer of foundation and that her blush was too dark. This took away from her beauty because she looked like she was fake. But then again, for all I knew, the guys here were attracted to girls who were buried in make-up.

She laughed when she noticed that I was pretty much sizing her up, and I blushed. It was a habit I'd gained over the past year; I'd lost my trust in people and I couldn't help but see everybody as potential threats. Usually though, I was subtle enough in my scrutiny that no one noticed. This girl was the first person in a long time to catch me out and I was embarrassed because of it. It was time for damage control; I didn't want people thinking that I belonged in a nut house, even though I probably did.

I smiled apologetically, "Sorry, it's just that not many people dress like that back home." I said. It wasn't a complete lie; no one dressed that way for school anyway.

The distraction worked. As soon as I'd started talking, her face had broken into a massive grin and she'd started bouncing in her seat in a very Alice-like fashion. Once I'd finished my sentence she squealed (thankfully quietly) and leaned forward conspiratorially.

"Oh my God, you're British?!" she asked under her breath, "That's so cool; I've never met a British person before."

"I have; quite a few actually," I joked. I liked this girl, whoever she was. Okay, so she was a bit too enthusiastic and she had a completely different dress sense to me, but at least she made me laugh. "To be honest, we're not that different to other people."

"Well duh. That's pretty much a given… what I wanna know is; do you know any hot, English, bad boys that would be interested in dating an American chick?" she asked. And her voice was so hopeful that I had to laugh at her. I mean what English guy _didn't _want to date an American girl?

"No sorry, but I'll ring around and see if anyone I know can find you one." I promised.

"Thank you so much!" she squealed.

"No problem," I giggled. It felt good to be laughing and having fun again after the past year. "I'm Rachel by the way." I added.

"Oh sorry, I should have introduced myself earlier, but wateva; I'm Sasha." She replied. She seemed to think for a minute before continuing, "If you want you can sit with me and mine at lunch today."

"Thanks I'd love to." I smiled, before retreating into my own head for a while. I ran through the events of the last few days and I almost laughed out loud when I realised how much my life had changed in such a short space of time.

The bell rang, jerking me out of my reverie and making me jump. I packed my things away and headed to my next class.

* * *

The rest of the morning passed in a blur of meaningless information and droning teachers. Before I knew it, it was time for lunch. I headed to the cafeteria with Sasha because we shared the class before lunch. As we were nearing the doors to the cafeteria, she stopped and turned to me, a serious look on her face.

"Okay here's the deal. For the whole year I've been sitting with these two guys and it's just been the three of us so we're pretty close. They're not gonna appreciate someone new joining the group; just a little heads up for you. I'm sorry if either of them is rude to you but that's just the way they are; if you wanna sit with us you'll have to get used to it. Oh and for the record, Danny's mine so keep your paws off. Got all that?" she asked sweetly at the end.

"Yeah I think so. So Danny's your boyfriend then?" I asked curiously.

"Not exactly no." she murmured shyly, before looking up and fixing me with an icy glare, "But he will be, so stay away from him."

I held my hands up as a sign of peace, "Don't worry, I have absolutely no intention of moving in on your territory, I was just curious is all." I amended quickly. "Make sure you point him out to me though; just so there's no mistake."

She laughed at that and we started walking again. As we entered the cafeteria, I was once again shocked by the similarities between my dreams and the real thing. We headed to the lunch line and I filled a tray with a slice of pizza and some chips. I also grabbed a bottle of water. After we headed further into the cafeteria to find somewhere to sit, Sasha pointed to something over my shoulder.

"There they are, over there. Come on!" she said before walking past me.

I span round, ready to follow her and that's when my eyes fell on the table she'd stopped at. I nearly dropped my tray full of food in shock when I was who was sitting at the table.

'No, this can't be happening!'

* * *

Any ideas as to who is at the table?? It's not hard to guess I know but still. I wasn't planning on ending here...the chapter just got a bit long (this is about 25 pages in Microsoft Word)so I should have the second half up here in about a week or so.

The more reviews I get, the faster the next chap will be up.

Thanks,  
IHeartMarvin x x x


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